Earth Two Point One, Season Two
by BuggyQ
Summary: In Season Two of BuggyQ's version of Earth Two, Eden Advance continues their trek towards New Pacifica, but they are not alone in this new world. The Council is an ongoing threat, and new dangers face them at every turn-including from within.
1. Chapter 1

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 1

* * *

_A/N: So yeah, it's been almost a year since I finished Season One, and I'm really glad I noted that I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get through Season Two. A few epic bouts of writers' block, an insanely busy RL, and my own ridiculous brand of perfectionism combined to make this whole season a nightmare to write. But amazingly, I finally have it close to finished, close enough to start posting (which will FORCE me to finish the rest)._

**_For any of you coming into this cold, you'll definitely want to read my first season story before you tackle this. Otherwise you'll be hopelessly lost. _**_This season picks up immediately following Season One, so even those who read that might want to refresh their memories, since it has been an unconscionably long time since I've posted anything._

_For those of you coming back after my long hiatus, THANK YOU! It has done my heart good to see how many people have read my first offering in this universe, and you have given me great incentive to keep going on this. Particular thanks go out to The Nagging Cube, for nagging so pleasantly; to TesubCalle, for the spectacular reviews and PMs from the first season; and to my fabulous beta-readers, OOSer and CruiseCopper, without whom this second season would never have happened (for many, many reasons that go far beyond my writing. I'd be lost without you two!). All errors are mine, however-their responsibility only goes so far as they helped improve this, which means all the good stuff is really theirs._

_Disclaimer: All the main characters (Devon, Uly, Danziger, Tru, Alonzo, Julia, Bess, Morgan, Yale) are not mine. All the rest are (especially Melanie), as is the majority of the setting by now._

_Summary: In Season Two of BuggyQ's version of Earth Two, Eden Advance continues their trek towards New Pacifica, but they are not alone in this new world. The Council is an ongoing threat, and new dangers face them at every turn-including from within._

* * *

Prologue

A shadowy figure slipped silently into the med tent in the pre-dawn darkness. Julia and Melanie were both deeply asleep, but the figure paused for an extended moment, making certain they didn't wake up.

The figure slipped over to the lab table, heading unerringly for Melanie's headgear, which she'd left on the table once she'd gotten back to the tent the night before after taking Devon back to her own tent.

Deft fingers quickly unplugged the encryption chip from its port and replaced it with a nearly identical VR chip. And just as silently as it had entered, the figure slipped out, leaving Julia and Melanie none the wiser.

* * *

The day after Julia's clifftop adventure, Eden Advance set out as soon as Melanie had given Devon the once-over to make sure she was ready and able to travel. Julia and Devon were both adamant that they needed to put some distance between themselves and whatever agents might still be out there, and no one seemed inclined to argue.

Julia was loading the last of the med tent cases onto the trailer when Devon came up in the rail, driving one-handed. She shifted awkwardly over to the passenger seat and waved Julia over. "You're with me, at least for now," Devon said.

Julia's heart sank. She knew Melanie had talked to Devon already, had told her what had happened, but Julia hadn't had to face that particular piece of music yet. And the reception she'd had from everyone else the night before had been bad enough.

"Don't look so scared," Melanie whispered. "She won't bite."

"It's the bark I'm worried about," Julia murmured. It still hurt a little to talk, and her voice sounded gravelly.

"It'll be okay, Jules," Melanie said. "If it gets too bad, signal me on gear, and I'll figure out some way to rescue you."

Julia shot her a grateful look and headed over to the rail. Melanie followed and handed her a bottle of water as she climbed into the driver's seat. "Drink plenty as you go," she said. "It'll help with your throat. And don't forget to take the anti-inflammatories."

"I know, Melanie," Julia said. "I actually have a degree in medicine."

"Yes, I'm going to have to have a conversation with the people who gave you that degree sometime," Melanie said pointedly. "There were some pretty major gaps in your education."

"Speaking of medical education, just for the record, I have one rule: from here on out," Devon said to Julia, cutting in before she could reply. "You never, ever let her," she nodded at Melanie, "get her hands on a hypospray unsupervised again."

"Hey!" Melanie said indignantly.

"That's all?" Julia said.

"Well, I'd appreciate your staying away from cliffs for the foreseeable future," Devon said. "Other than that, I think I'm good."

"I think I can do that," Julia said.

"Okay, then let's move out," Devon said, and Julia waved goodbye to Melanie as she headed to the front of the caravan.

"Look…Devon," Julia began once they were underway, but Devon held up her hand.

"Before you start apologizing, I want to make something clear to you. You were unbelievably stupid not to talk to me-"

"I know," Julia interrupted, "and I'm-"

"-Sorry. I know, I get that," Devon said. "And you're supposed to be resting your voice. Understood?"

Julia looked chastened.

"Thank you. Melanie and I watched all the VRs, and I have to say, it was pretty eye-opening. I don't think I could have been as restrained as you were. That Brendan guy is infuriating."

Julia's lips tightened. "He still got to me. There were too many times I let myself give things away I shouldn't have."

"True," Devon said. "And that's the biggest reason I want you to understand about the stupid. If I'd been aware of what was going on, I could have helped. Believe it or not, some people think I'm kind of smart."

"I know that," Julia said. "Believe me, I do. I just didn't know who I could trust at the beginning. Now I do, at least as far as you, Melanie and Valerie are concerned."

"Are you sure?" Devon said. "I know Valerie talked to you a lot out there, but I don't know exactly what she said. So if I'm covering the same territory here, just stop me. But I really need to be sure you understand this: you are not alone here."

"I do understand that-" Julia began, but Devon was shaking her head.

"No, I don't think you do. I do mean it in the best way-you can absolutely count on us," Devon said seriously. "But that's not all I meant. We're in a ridiculously dangerous situation here, and I simply cannot afford to have anyone in this group acting on their own."

Julia swallowed hard, then nodded.

"We're going to have a hard time getting past the fact that you lied to us, no matter how good your motives were," Devon said carefully. "I'm glad you feel you can trust me now, but I'll be honest, Julia, I don't know if I can trust you."

Julia sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to," she said, her voice barely audible, and Devon felt bad for having said it the way she did.

"I don't mean about the Council," she said gently. "There's no doubt in my mind where your loyalties lie. I mean your habit of trying to do everything yourself."

Julia frowned. "I don't-"

"Come on," Devon said. "When you got sick, did you ask anybody for help? Did you tell anyone what you found out?"

Julia opened her mouth to say something, then stopped.

Devon sighed. "And it's more than just that. For whatever reason, you don't seem to think too much about your own safety," she said. "I'm worried that's only going to get worse with you trying to prove to everyone you're on our side." She turned to look pointedly at Julia. "It took twenty-four years for you to develop this inferiority complex you have going, so I'm not going to try to break that down right now."

"I don't have an-"

Devon waved her protest away. "Whatever you want to tell yourself is your business. But whatever value you may think you have as a person is beside the point. You have value for your skills, and I think you'd have to admit that those skills are pretty important to this group. Right?"

Julia looked uncomfortable, but she nodded.

"So I need you to promise me something," Devon continued. "Don't go off the deep end trying to prove yourself. You're already a little too reckless and self-sacrificing for my comfort level. The last thing I need is to worry about you taking any more risks than you would normally just to try to show everyone you're on our side. I'd rather have you alive and ostracized than dead. Am I clear?"

Julia sighed. "I'll try, Devon. But…" She paused, frowning, then decided to continue, though she looked deeply embarrassed. "Most of the time I do things, I do them without thinking very much."

"Really?" Devon drawled sarcastically, and Julia blushed. "I'm not asking you to suddenly become a different person," Devon said, taking pity on her. "Just make an effort to do a little more thinking before you act, okay? And for god's sake, talk to me more!"

"Do I have a choice?" Julia said, gesturing at the rail.

Devon smiled, looking almost predatory. "No, not right now. And just to make sure it stays that way, I think we'll make this a regular thing." Her smile brightened as Julia groaned under her breath. "For what it's worth, I think you have some significant value as a person, too," she said a moment later. "But I'll fight that battle another day. Now, before we get into the deep and depressing topic of who the spy is, Danziger told me you'd managed to keep that secret from the rest of the camp last night."

Julia nodded. "It seemed like a good idea-I hate to think what the suspicion would to do us."

Devon frowned. "That thought crossed my mind, too. But you do realize it's going to make things harder for you, right? That was your single best reason for not telling us what you were up to."

Julia shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.

Devon looked at her for a long moment, then sighed, shaking her head. "You don't have to punish yourself, you know."

"I'm not-"

Devon shrugged. "Okay, fine, that's not what it's about. But if things get too rough for you, I think we're better off letting everyone know what we're up against. The divisiveness of having some of our people being openly hostile to you could be just as bad as everyone being suspicious of each other."

"I don't think it'll be that bad," Julia said.

But Devon could hear the uncertainty in her voice. And after what Danziger had told her about the grilling Julia had gone through, particularly from Hardy, Devon was fairly sure it would be exactly that bad, and probably worse. _We'll just have to deal with that when we get to it_, she thought. "Okay, so how much of a threat do you think the Council still is to us?"

Julia shook her head thoughtfully. "Melanie and I talked a lot about that last night. She doesn't think the signal from the encryption chip is very strong. I know Valerie thought a satellite might pick it up, but Melanie's not so sure, and that's more Melanie's area of expertise. And that scares me."

"Why?" Devon said uneasily.

"Because Brendan seemed a lot more interested in keeping me from being discovered over those last couple of check-ins than he was about getting me to give up something about our location," Julia said. "That says to me that his people were already tracking the signal. And if Melanie's right, that could mean they're pretty close. I think maybe he wasn't just bluffing when he said my signal got them close enough."

Devon sighed. "Well, I guess we just have to push like crazy to keep ahead of them," she said.

"And if we can't?" Julia said quietly.

"Well, Danziger and the other scouts are working hard to scope out defensible sites for the camp. He also said something about maybe being able to set up an early warning system with some sensors he could cobble together."

Julia looked relieved. "That would help me to sleep a little easier," she said. "I really don't think there can be that many agents after us-when Brendan said they were sent out in teams of three, I got the impression there weren't more than a handful of teams. If it were me, I'd have sent a couple of teams around each side of the Donut Hole. And if the guy we ran into was part of one of the west side teams, then we might only have to deal with the east side teams. Even thinking pessimistically, I think we're probably up against no more than ten, maybe fifteen on the outside. And if we can take away the element of surprise…"

Devon nodded. "Yale and I came to almost the same conclusion," she said. "Well, I guess that reinforces my line of thinking. And it makes sense to keep pushing west even independent of the Council threat. The weather is going to be the next big concern, and the farther west we can get before it gets bad, the better."

Julia nodded. "I figure we have maybe a week or two before we start seeing the temperatures really start to drop overnight," she said. "I haven't had the time to really look at the data we have about G-889 to know for sure, though."

"'Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,'" Devon said. "Maybe now you'll have a little more time to spend on that sort of thing. Unless…"

Julia frowned. "Unless what?"

"Unless something else comes up to occupy your time," Devon said with a twinkle in her eye.

"What do you mean?" Julia said uneasily.

"Is Alonzo as good a kisser as he looks?"

Julia blushed deeply, and had to resist the urge to call Melanie for help right then. _Oh, this is going to be a long ride_, she thought.

* * *

"Oh, man, is Devon making Julia ride with her?" Valerie said, coming up to Melanie as she walked along beside the Transrover and watching the rail speed towards the front of the caravan.

Melanie nodded, wrinkling her nose. "Somehow I don't think Julia's going to be in a very good mood tonight," she said.

"I just hope Devon doesn't beat her up too much," Valerie said. "Lord knows everybody else already gave her a hard time, including me." _And you_, she added silently, glancing sidelong at Melanie.

Melanie nodded again. "But maybe that's what she needs. She has a pretty thick skull, in case you hadn't noticed. Some lessons may take a while to sink in."

"How bad do you think it's going to be for her?" Valerie said.

"I have no idea," Melanie said. "You said Hardy was pretty mean to her, right?"

"Yeah," Valerie said glumly. "And Bill wasn't exactly receptive either, which surprised me. But once Alonzo said if we decided to leave Julia behind, he was going with her, most of the anti-Julia crowd started to realize what they were facing. Until then, I don't think anybody had really thought about what the options were."

Melanie smiled. "That's my boy."

"Then Helen jumped in with that bit about needing to reach consensus," Valerie continued, "and Todd said something about how we all needed to hang together or we'd all hang separately, and the momentum really started to swing towards Julia."

"How about Morgan?" Melanie asked curiously.

Valerie snorted. "I think he realized discretion was the better part of valor. It would have been pretty hypocritical for the Council liaison to be hassling Julia for being a Council spy. Besides," she added with a grin, "Bess was one of the more vocal ones on Julia's side."

"Once again, I ask myself, how does that woman see anything in Morgan Martin?" Melanie said wonderingly.

"Love is blind," Valerie said, shaking her head. "Speaking of love, I couldn't help but notice Alonzo was in the med tent for quite a while this morning."

"Mmm," Melanie said, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was having this conversation with Valerie, of all people. "And it's about freaking time. Both of them have been broadcasting love on every frequency for so long, I can't believe it took them this long to figure it out. Well, that it took Julia this long to figure it out."

Valerie was frowning.

"What?" Melanie said.

"What did you do with the encryption chip?" Valerie said.

Melanie froze, then reached up and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the chip still plugged in. She pulled it out and showed it to Valerie.

"We need to get rid of that, fast," Valerie said. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"Well, it's not like we haven't had other things to worry about," Melanie said. "What should we do with it? Toss it?"

Valerie shook her head. "Anybody could find it with the equipment we have here in camp. I don't want to risk the spy, whoever it is, finding it. We need to disable it completely."

"I know just the guy," Melanie said, looking over at Danziger in the cab of the Transrover, where he was working on putting together the perimeter alarm he'd told Devon about.

A few minutes work with a welding torch later, it was done. Melanie checked her tablet to make certain the signal was gone, and happily pronounced the encryption chip dead.

"That's one less thing to worry about," Valerie said.

"Mmm. But we still need to figure out who the spy is," Melanie said.

"Like I said, one less thing. It'll be a while before we get our worries down to zero," Valerie said.

* * *

"Devon, could I have a word?" Yale said as they finished setting up their tent that evening. They'd made good time that day, and everyone was breathing a little easier the farther they got from the last campsite.

"Sure," Devon said, wincing as she shifted her arm in her sling.

"Uly, would you go over to the mess tent?" Yale said. "Toshiko is helping Phoebe and the others set it up. You can help them."

"I don't have to have somebody watching me all the time, you know," Uly said. "I'm not Tru."

"Indeed you are not," Yale said before Devon could jump in. "And we are all very grateful for that fact."

Uly grinned at Yale, who winked, and then trotted off toward the mess tent.

Devon frowned at Yale. "What didn't you want to say in front of Uly?"

"I was wondering if you would reconsider your decision about allowing him to receive weapons safety training from John Danziger," Yale said.

Devon stiffened. "Did that-did he put you up to this?" she said, and winced inwardly at how harsh her tone sounded.

Yale stopped and looked seriously at her. "I understand your being unhappy with him for not asking you first, but Devon, I truly believe this would be in Uly's best interest."

"Really," Devon said, and realized how sarcastic she sounded. _Why does this bother me so much?_ she thought.

"Yes," Yale said as though she intended the comment to be taken seriously. "Uly is very interested in the guns, and they are readily available to him. Despite the precautions we have established, the handguns are often in plain sight." Yale looked seriously at her. "Do you really want to take the risk that Uly might get his hands on a gun without him understanding how dangerous they are?"

Devon bit her lip. "And you think having Danziger teach him about them will help?"

Yale nodded. "It has been well established that children who are trained in the safe use of weapons are far less likely to injure themselves or others accidentally. And I believe Danziger's approach would be effective." Yale smiled. "Besides, Uly could use some other positive male role models than myself. And with my weapons-aversion programming, I simply cannot offer him that training."

Devon sighed. "I know you're right," she said finally. "But honestly, the idea of Uly holding a gun scares me silly."

"All the more reason, then," Yale said kindly. "Once you see how he can handle a weapon safely, I believe it will ease your mind. It would also give him a chance to feel he is being given some responsibility. He is growing up quickly, Devon, and now that he is feeling healthy, he is testing his boundaries. At the very least, when he would be working with Danziger, he would not be getting into trouble."

Devon looked chagrined, glancing over at the mess tent, where Uly was talking animatedly to Toshiko. "He is doing that, isn't he?" She shook her head. "I sure hope that Julia's right about gasparanium being the cause of the Syndrome. I'd love to see all of those Syndrome children testing boundaries like Uly."

Yale froze for an instant.

"Yale?" Devon said.

Yale blinked. "Forgive me," he said. "I was just imagining 200 children with that kind of energy," he said with a wide-eyed smile.

Devon laughed. "That'll make this whole trip look like a picnic, won't it?"

"All the more reason to make sure Uly is as well-disciplined as possible before we get to that point," Yale said pointedly.

"All right, all right," Devon said putting her hands up in surrender. "I'll talk to Danziger."

Yale looked pleased and relieved. "Thank you, Devon."

* * *

"Hey, Devon, we've got a Terrier out here," Todd said over the gear.

Devon looked up from her bowl of synthofu and tapped her gear. "Where? What's it doing?"

"It's up on that ridge we just came over," Todd said. "And right now it's just looking at us."

"Remember the rules-nobody fires unless I give the order," Devon said. "I'll be right there." She glanced over at Toshiko and tilted her head towards Uly, and Toshiko nodded.

Devon almost ran into Danziger as she came out of the mess tent. "You heard?" she said, turning towards where Todd was standing sentry.

"Yeah," Danziger said, running alongside her. "Where's the doc?"

"Here," Julia said, coming up behind them. "What's going on?"

"Another Terrier," Devon said, pointing past Todd as they got closer to him. The Terrier was easy to see in the fading sunlight.

"You gettin' anything from it, Doc?" Danziger said.

Julia frowned slightly. "No," she said, and she sounded surprised. "It's like it's not even there."

Devon glanced over at her as they stopped by Todd. "That's unusual?"

Julia nodded, looking at the Terrier. "Every other time we've seen one, I've gotten something, at least a feeling of…pressure," she said, groping for words. "But this one…" She shook her head, then looked closely at Devon. "What about you?"

"Me?" Devon said, surprised.

"Any headache?" Julia asked insistently.

Devon shook her head.

"There he goes," Todd said, pointing, and Devon looked back in time to see the Terrier disappear behind the ridge.

"I don't like this," Julia said uneasily. "Danziger, how close are you to having that perimeter alarm ready?"

Danziger frowned. "I might be able to get it done by tomorrow night if I work on it on the 'rover while we move tomorrow. It's a little hard doing the wiring while we're moving, though, so it might take a little longer."

"I'd feel better if we had that in place," Julia said, looking back at the ridge.

"You don't think that one was friendly?" Devon said.

"I think if I were an unfriendly Terrier, I'd make sure I wasn't broadcasting feelings at the people I was planning to attack," Julia said.

Danziger scratched the back of his head, nodding. "Okay. One way or another, I'll make sure the perimeter alarm is ready tomorrow night."

Devon nodded. "Tell the other sentries to keep their eyes open tonight," she said to Todd. She turned and started back toward the mess tent, then turned to look at Julia. "Why did you ask if I had a headache?"

Julia gave her an odd look, and Devon realized she was trying not to smile. "Because I'm betting that when Melanie sedated you-"

"-she used methohex," Devon finished. She shook her head, looking angrily toward the med tent. "She managed to leave that part out."

"Don't be too angry with her," Julia said. "She was dealing with a lot at that moment."

"I know," Devon sighed. "And honestly, I'd considered asking you to use that stuff on me anyway. It just makes sense for me to be able to communicate with the Terriers."

Danziger laughed.

"What?" Devon said, glancing sidelong at him.

He grinned. "I just never thought of you as the sensitive type, that's all."

"Don't mess with me, Danziger," Devon said. "Your daughter already thinks I'm badass."

"You certainly looked the part pointing the mag-pro at that agent," Julia said, laughing.

Devon suddenly looked serious. "I couldn't pull the trigger," she said.

Julia's face fell. "Oh, Devon, I didn't mean to-it-it wasn't your fault," she stammered. "That agent had me so tight-"

Devon shook her head. "That wasn't it. I was scared I might hit you, yes, but that wasn't why I couldn't." She sighed and turned to look at Danziger, who was looking at her with a bemused expression. "I wanted to talk to you about that. I've changed my mind about you giving Uly gun safety lessons."

His eyebrows did a slow crawl towards his hairline.

"Don't look so surprised," Devon said, glaring at him. "Yale and I were talking about it, and it got me thinking. Part of the reason I didn't want him doing it was because guns…" She hesitated, then plunged ahead. "Guns scare me."

Julia's eyes went wide. "But…you came after me with the mag-pro," she said.

Devon shrugged. "If I'd had more time to think about it, and if I hadn't been so mad at you, I might not have done it. Besides, at the time, I didn't think I'd need to use it."

"But you want me to teach Uly how to use them?" Danziger said.

"And me," Devon said. "I mean, I know the basics, but I thought if I handled them more, maybe I could get over it."

"Sure," Danziger said, but there was a weird, almost panicked look in his eyes. "Yeah, good thinking. Um, so, maybe tomorrow night, if I get the perimeter alarm done?"

Devon nodded. "It's a date," she said, and walked away.

Julia looked after her, then back at Danziger, and saw that the panicked expression had given way to an oddly pleased one. "Are you okay?" she said.

"What?" he said, and his voice cracked. "Yeah, sure, fine." He watched Devon go, and slowly nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm good."

* * *

The next morning, Julia heaved a box of medical supplies up onto the smaller trailer, then turned, heading back towards where Melanie was getting ready to carry the med tent to the trailer. The rest of the camp was already packed up, and most of the tents loaded.

As she walked by where Hardy and Bill were getting ready to load a tent onto the larger trailer, Hardy dropped one of the few remaining water bottles from the emergency pods. It shattered when it hit the ground, splashing water onto Julia's leg as she passed.

"Well, wouldja look at that," Hardy said in an intentionally loud voice. "Only the Council would stock emergency pods with biodegradable bottles. Because when you're trying to survive, being environmentally conscious is so important."

Julia kept her gaze straight ahead and kept walking.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I was on one of the asteroid mining outposts?" Hardy said loudly, following Julia.

"Uh…no," Bill said. "Hardy…the tent?"

"There was this guy, Council flunkie, kinda like Morgan Martin, only dumber," Hardy said. "But boy, was he a stickler for regulations. You had to fill out every form, exactly right, or you didn't get paid. So this one time, my buddy Jim messed up one of the forms. Simple mistake, right? But not for this guy-he tried to get Jim fired. Jim had to call in every favor he had just to keep his damned job, and he didn't get paid that month. Nearly lost his wife over that one."

"That's rough," Bill said uncertainly.

Julia got to where Melanie was packing up the med tent. She'd gotten it folded and was starting to roll it up, and Julia bent to help her, hoping Hardy would just keep walking.

No such luck. "A few weeks later," Hardy said, stopping only a few meters from her, "that Council button-pusher had to go out to one of the mine lifts to fill out one of his stupid forms. They found him out cold an hour later, with a slow leak in his pressure suit."

Julia stiffened.

"Jules?" Melanie said quietly.

"He survived, but I guess there was a little brain damage. Poor guy can't wipe himself now," Hardy continued without a hint of sympathy in his voice. "A week after that, Jim got picked up by the CSF. I never saw him again."

"Wow," Bill said. "Um, shouldn't we get working on loading the tent?"

"But the thing is," Hardy said with a dangerous edge to his voice, "just like everything else they do, the Council screwed that one up. Because Jim didn't have a thing to do with it."

Julia stood and turned to look steadily at him, and Hardy took a step towards her.

"Hey, Hardy, come on," Bill said, grabbing his arm, but Hardy shook him off. He stepped closer, and Julia took an involuntary step backwards.

"Don't think for one minute that I believe that line of-" Hardy stopped, looking at something behind Julia, and Julia felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hardy, do you want to explain to me exactly what you think you're doing?" Devon said, suddenly appearing next to Julia. "And what about you, Bill? Or would you rather do your explaining to Helen?"

Bill blanched. He glanced over at Julia. "Sorry, Julia," he said. "I-I'm sorry." He turned and ran past the Transrover like he was being chased by Terriers.

"You can't use a girl against me," Hardy said. "I have a right to an opinion."

"You're welcome to your opinion, Hardy," Devon said quietly. "I'd just appreciate it if you didn't express it so…vocally."

Hardy snorted. "I'll say whatever I damn well please!"

Julia felt Devon's hand tighten on her shoulder. "Not if you want to stay in this group, you won't," Devon said, and even though the volume of her tone hadn't changed, there was a dangerous edge to it.

"You wouldn't dare," Hardy said derisively, and he stared at Devon, as if daring her to carry out her threat.

Devon returned the stare, not saying a word, until Hardy finally looked away. "Why don't you go help Bill with loading that tent?"

Hardy glanced back up at her, frowning darkly, then stalked away, muttering under his breath.

Devon turned to look at Julia, who had plastered a stoic expression on her face.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Julia said.

"Huh?" Devon said, frowning.

"You didn't have to squeeze my shoulder so hard," Julia said. "I wasn't going to say anything to him."

"Oh!" Devon said, and she let go of Julia. "Sorry-that wasn't for you. It was for me. There's a lot I didn't say that I wanted to, and your shoulder helped me keep it to myself." She grinned sheepishly. "Come on," she said, tilting her head towards the rail. "You're my chauffeur again today, remember? Let's go scout ahead."

"But...I should help Melanie," Julia said, casting about desperately for an excuse to avoid riding with Devon.

"Don't worry," Devon said, smiling at Melanie.

Melanie hesitated, then said, "No problem, I've got this. You go ahead, Jules."

Julia sighed, then turned and followed Devon to the rail.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Devon said, climbing in beside her.

Julia shook her head, starting the rail and pulling out.

"Okay, then, I guess I'll just have to find something else to talk about," Devon said. "I found the conversation about Alonzo yesterday very entertaining, if a bit one-sided. Would you like to pick up where we left off?"

"I didn't think there was anything else you could say on that topic," Julia said dryly, and Devon breathed an inward sigh of relief. She'd been worried Julia would simply refuse to talk.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Devon said, smiling sidelong at her. "Would you like to find out what else I can come up with?"

Julia sighed. "You're even more annoying than Melanie," she said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Devon said. "So…Alonzo…"

"Devon, please," Julia said. "Can we just not talk for a while?"

"Sure," Devon said. "You get fifteen minutes. After that, I don't think I can stand it."

"I'll take what I can get," Julia said tiredly.

"Why don't we stop on that ridge till the others catch up?" Devon said.

Julia nodded, and pulled to the top of the hill and stopped. She climbed out of the rail, grabbed the monoculars, and began scanning the horizon, hoping that would be enough to deter Devon.

It wasn't. After ten minutes, Devon made a point of checking her gear chronometer every thirty seconds. Julia was the first to crack.

"All right, all right," she said finally. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Poetry," Devon said happily.

"I thought you didn't like poetry," Julia said warily.

"Well, it's not like I have a lot of entertainment here, other than the VR opera that is you and Alonzo," Devon said, grinning at Julia as she rolled her eyes. "But you got me started reading it, and darned if I didn't find out I do like it. Turns out it's a great sleep aid."

Julia laughed.

_Mission accomplished_, Devon thought.

"All right, so what about poetry?" Julia said, smiling sidelong at her, as if she was daring Devon to actually try the conversation.

"Wislawa Szymborska," Devon said.

"What?" Julia said.

"I know, it sounds like I sneezed, doesn't it? I'm probably mangling the pronunciation," Devon said. "It's an interesting story. I told Yale about our poetry conversation, and I said something like, 'Who has a favorite poem?'" She laughed ruefully. "I think I offended him. Turns out Yale does, too."

"Really?" Julia asked. "One of…Szymborska's?"

Devon nodded. "I can't remember the title-you'll have to ask him. But he read it to me, and it was pretty amazing. Something about the Gordian Knot. I ended up reading some of her others because I was intrigued. She's really good at last lines. There's always something mind-blowing at the end of her poems. And I love that she doesn't rhyme very often. I mean, Shakespeare's good, but most rhyming poetry seems so contrived."

Julia nodded, then suddenly, her expression changed.

"What is it?" Devon said, realizing that she was looking sad. _Oh, hell, what did I say?_

Julia shook her head. "Nothing," she said.

"Julia, we're having a sharing moment here," Devon said. "So share."

Julia looked uncomfortable. "It's…" She opened her mouth, then shut it, then looked resigned. "My mother loved Shakespeare's sonnets."

_Loved_, Devon thought. _Past tense. Oh, Julia._ "She has excellent taste," Devon said.

Julia shot her a questioning look.

"Julia, there's every chance she's not dead," Devon said. "You can't give up on her."

Julia shook her head. "Devon, she's like Schrodinger's cat. Maybe she's alive, maybe she isn't. But there's nothing I can do about it either way. And I can't keep hoping."

* * *

The terrain got rougher that day. And drier. The Transrover undercarriage hit a rock in the early afternoon, and a spark started a brushfire that they were barely able to get under control.

"Tell everybody to be careful today and especially tonight with the fire," Danziger said after they'd gotten it out. "A fire like that gets into the forest around here, and we could have a real bonfire."

"No kidding," Rob said. "That spread fast!"

Melanie got a thoughtful look. "Hey, Rick!" Melanie called, catching up with him as he walked beside the Transrover.

He turned to look at her, surprised. "Where's Julia?"

"Riding with Devon again," Melanie said. "So I'm bored."

Rick smiled. "Oh, and I'm the lucky guy who gets to entertain you?"

"Actually, I had an idea I wanted to run by you," Melanie said.

He looked dubiously at her. "What sort of idea?"

"Something that might help even the odds if the Council tries to take us out," she said smugly.

* * *

"So the pylons have a range of about fifty meters," Danziger said to Devon that night, showing her the perimeter alarm system he'd set up. "They're set to detect motion together with metal. That should give us a pretty good idea if something unfriendly-Terrier or Council-is getting close."

"How many do you have ready?" Devon asked.

Danziger grinned. "Enough to cover the entire camp. I promised I'd have it ready tonight," he said.

Devon smiled back. "I shouldn't have doubted you," she said.

"So what do you say? You ready to get over your fear of guns?" he said.

"Give me a minute," Devon said nervously. "Julia said she might let me go without the sling if my arm was making progress. I think that'd make it easier to handle a gun, don't you?" she added, wiggling her fingers in the sling.

"Sure," he said. "That'll give me time to track down Tru, wherever she's got to."

Devon grinned and headed for the med tent.

Julia was as good as her word. "The arm's looking good," she said after scanning it thoroughly. "You can go without the sling, but don't do any heavy lifting with it just yet. Take it easy for another few days at least, okay?"

"Sure," Devon said. "The most I'm planning to do is pull a trigger." _If I can manage that much_, she thought uneasily, heading for the tent flap.

Julia smiled. "Enjoy your date," she said off-handedly.

Devon frowned, turning back to look at Julia. "What?"

"That's what you called it," Julia said innocently, and Melanie snorted.

"It's not-" Devon said, then stopped, realizing what Julia was doing. "Very funny."

Julia shrugged. "Turnabout is fair play," she said.

Devon rolled her eyes and ducked out of the med tent. _Date_, she thought, heading for the Transrover. _As if!_

"Damn it, Tru, what did I tell you?" Danziger was saying as she came up.

"But it's not even loaded!" Tru protested, showing him the clipless handgun.

"What did I tell you?" Danziger repeated.

Tru rolled her eyes, and Devon wondered if that's what she'd just looked like with Julia. _God, I hope not_, she thought. "You told me that I'm not supposed to handle the guns with the power coil in until you tell me it's okay," Tru said grudgingly.

"Exactly," Danziger said. He turned to look at Uly, then at Devon. "And the same goes for both of you, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Uly said seriously. Tru snorted.

"Yes, sir," Devon repeated, smiling.

"Good," Danziger said. "Now, the first thing you need to know about is how to break down a gun. You know how it goes together, you know what can go wrong, see?"

* * *

Alonzo was on early sentry duty, and Melanie suggested to Julia that she take him some dinner. Julia had seemed a little sad when they'd finally stopped for the night, and in spite of her teasing Devon, she still seemed subdued. _Well, more subdued than normal_, Melanie thought, glancing over at the doctor. She figured Alonzo was the best option to get Julia's mind off whatever was bothering her. _Especially after that little exchange with Devon_, Melanie thought. _It wouldn't be fair if Devon and Danziger were the only ones getting a little romance tonight._

It took some doing to get Julia to agree, though. "I'm sure somebody else has already done that for him," Julia said.

"Nope," Melanie said promptly.

"You seem awfully sure about that," Julia said, looking at her warily.

"Let's just say that I'm not the only one who's interested in seeing you two together," Melanie said archly.

Julia rolled her eyes.

"So if you don't want the poor boy to starve, you're going to have to take care of it yourself," Melanie said.

Julia shook her head and sighed. But as she left the tent, Melanie noticed the faintest hint of a smile on her face.

If Julia had thought talking to Devon about Alonzo for eight hours was embarrassing, her experience in the mess tent was far worse. When she took two bowls of synthofu, Phoebe said, "Hey, now, don't you know we're on short rations?"

"It's not all for me," Julia protested.

"But Melanie already ate," Phoebe said. "Now I just wonder whoever else you could be taking dinner?"

"Phoebe," Julia said warningly.

"Okay, okay," Phoebe said, smiling broadly. "I'm just sorry I don't have some wine and some candles for you two lovebirds."

Julia just picked up the two bowls and turned to go, and found half of the dozen people in the mess tent looking at her with equally broad smiles, even the normally dour-faced Inez Medrano. The rest seemed to be finding their bowls of synthofu very interesting.

"Yayyy!" Toshiko said, doing a tiny happy dance with her hands.

Julia started to say, "But it's just dinner," but she knew it wouldn't change anything, especially since her traitorous red face had long since told a different story, so she just ducked out of the tent without another word.

She took her time making her way up to the bluff where Alonzo was standing guard, telling herself, _You're just taking him food. It doesn't mean anything._ But apparently her heart wasn't paying any attention. It was too busy doing bizarre backflips.

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? 'Tis the east, and Julia is the sun," Alonzo said.

Julia fought back the smile that kept trying to appear. "This is west," she said.

"Killjoy," he said, grinning. "Please tell me you brought me some romantic Italian spaghetti for us to share."

"Believe me, if there'd been anything the least bit romantic available, everyone in that camp would have made sure I brought it up here," Julia said.

Alonzo grinned. "Hey, you can't blame them," he said.

"I most certainly can," Julia said, handing him one of the bowls of synthofu. "I'm not some VR actress putting on a show for them."

"Thanks," he said. "You know, the best way to get them over that is to have a big ol' makeout session in the middle of camp."

Julia didn't even dignify that with a response. She sat down on a rock, figuring she'd better stay up here awhile or everyone would give her a hard time. _Who are you kidding?_ She thought. _They'll give you a hard time no matter what you do. That's not why you're staying._ She toyed with the ring on her thumb, suddenly tongue-tied.

"I don't think I'd ever noticed that before," Alonzo said.

Julia looked up, frowning questioningly.

"The ring," he said, pointing to the simple silver and gold band she was fiddling with. "It's a little unusual."

She blinked for a moment, trying to decide how much to tell him. "It belonged to my great-grandmother," she said finally.

He raised his eyebrows. "Quite the family heirloom," he said.

Julia nodded. "My mother gave it to me when I started medical school," she said, realizing all at once that she wanted Alonzo to know about it. About her. "She told me someday it might help me understand my purpose in the world." She smiled wryly. "I think it was her way of telling me I had big shoes to fill-this was her grandmother's wedding band, but it was way too big for my ring finger." She wiggled her thumb. "But it works on my thumb."

She paused, remembering how amused her mother had been by that. She realized it was one of the few memories she had of her mother smiling at her. She looked down at the ring, wondering again how it had gotten the deep gouge she was always rubbing her other thumb over. Her mother hadn't told her, saying only, "That's a story for another time."

"I'm sorry," Alonzo said softly. "I didn't mean to bring up sad memories."

Julia shook her head. "Not sad. Just…" She trailed off, realizing thinking about it was making her sad. "Tell me," she said abruptly, "how is it you know your Shakespeare so well?"

He looked a little surprised at the change of subject. "Who says I know Shakespeare? I mean, everybody knows Romeo and Juliet, right?"

Julia smiled at him. "Sure," she said. "But not everybody knows Henry IV, Part Two. I actually had to look that one up."

"Which one?" Alonzo said, confused.

"'Nature's soft nurse,'" she said. "Remember when you told me I needed to get some sleep right after the crash?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, looking trapped. "I guess I did say that."

"So?" Julia said, enjoying being the one keeping him off-balance for a change.

He shrugged. "I read a lot," he said, looking embarrassed, but there was an odd undercurrent to his expression Julia couldn't decipher.

"You read Shakespeare?" Julia said. "For fun?"

"No…I mean, sort of, I guess. I wouldn't say it was always for fun," he said incoherently.

Julia looked at him, smiling expectantly.

"I just…grew up with it," he said, and his expression had darkened slightly, and she couldn't miss the fleeting look of pity he gave her before he looked down at the ground.

And suddenly Julia knew why he was so uncomfortable. _He doesn't want to talk about his mother because he's afraid it will make me sad_, she thought, and was deeply touched. "Tell me about her," she said.

Alonzo's head shot up, and then he smiled faintly. "I should have known I couldn't get that one past you," he said.

"It's okay, Alonzo," she said. "I'd really like to know."

"She taught classical literature, including Shakespeare, though her specialty was the Spanish and Italian renaissance," he said, then grinned. "That's how I ended up with a name like Alonzo. Don Quixote, not VR romances."

"I see," Julia said, returning the smile. "That also explains the tilting at windmills," she added, gesturing at herself.

Alonzo laughed out loud. "You're no windmill," he said. "You're Dulcinea."

Julia blushed. "Where did she teach?" she said, suddenly desperate to change the topic.

"Stanford, Station One," he said, and laughed again when her eyebrows went up. "Yeah, I'm a Station One brat, too. Surprise!"

"You'd never know," Julia said. "You're nowhere near as stuck up as most of us."

"Yeah, well, I got out early."

"How early?" Julia said, forcing herself to take a bite of synthofu before it got cold.

"Right out of high school," he said. "Well, actually, I got one semester of college in. Then I joined the Council Security Forces. My mom was so mad." He shook his head.

"You were in the military?" she said.

"Yeah, me and my lack of discipline were a big hit there," he said dryly. "But they taught me to fly, so I can't hold too much against them."

"But why did you join up?" Julia said. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be the patriotic type."

He shook his head. "I wasn't. I just wanted to get as far away from Station One as I could get. CSF sure did that for me." That didn't sound nearly as light as the rest of the conversation had been.

"What happened?" Julia said gently.

Alonzo's expression darkened. He stared at the ground for a long moment, fiddling with the spoon in his bowl. "A girl," he said finally, and smiled, though there was very little real humor in the look. "Broke my heart."

"Oh," Julia said. "But then…how did you end up with the Eden Project run?"

He looked troubled again. "That's a really long story," he said.

"I'm sorry," Julia said. "I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay," Alonzo interrupted. "I just don't…" He trailed off, looking like he was debating with himself. "You remember how freaked out I was when the ship was going down?"

Julia raised her eyebrows. "That was freaked out?" she said.

He smiled. "Thanks," he said skeptically.

"I'm serious," Julia said. "I had no idea."

"Well, let's just say that I'm really glad you were on the ship when it went down, because if I hadn't had you to focus on, I might not have made it off," he said. "I've been in a lifepod once before, and I didn't really want to repeat the experience."

"Why not?"

"It was a first-generation cryopod. Turns out they worked pretty well at keeping me alive," Alonzo was saying, his expression unreadable. "Just not so well at getting me found."

"How long?" Julia said, feeling sick at the thought.

"Twenty-four years," he said. "I guess my pod hit an asteroid and it knocked out the beacon. It wasn't till a mining crew landed on my little rock that they found me." He shrugged. "My mom had died six months before they found me, and the powers that be were…well…" He trailed off, looking almost angry. "Long story short, I figured, hey, I've been through cryo, and it's not so bad. Why not sleep runs?"

Julia suddenly remembered what he'd said about it having been a first generation cryopod. _The first-generations were how they tested the cryogenic preservation process_, she thought. _Before__ the first sleep ships_. "How old are you?" she blurted.

"You're not going to say I'm too old for you, are you?" he said.

Julia shook her head mutely.

"A hundred and six," he said, and at her amazed look, "Hey, I've only been out of cryo for the equivalent of..." He frowned, calculating. "Twenty-seven years, give or take."

"You've spent that much time in cryo?" she said.

"Yep," he said. "Two trips to the Proxima Centauri station, one to Barnard's Star. One of the Proxima trips was before the Velikovsky Drive, so it took a little longer."

Julia took a bite of synthofu and didn't even notice the texture.

"I just totally freaked you out, didn't I?" Alonzo said.

Julia looked up, startled. "N-no, of course not," she stammered.

Alonzo took a bite of synthofu and stared down at the nearly-empty bowl.

"Alonzo," Julia said, "I'm sorry. It-I just-I was surprised, that's all. It doesn't bother me."

"Sure," he said, not sounding at all convinced. He handed her the bowl. "Here, I'm done. Thanks for bringing it up here." He stood up and turned to look out over the plains to the south.

"Alonzo," Julia said. "Look at me."

He sighed and turned around. Julia was standing with her hands in her jacket pockets, looking indecisive. He almost laughed out loud when she looked down at the dirt and actually scuffed her toe in it, looking so young for an instant that he felt every one of his hundred and six years. Then all at once she stepped close, grabbed his face in both hands, pulled him down into a kiss, and all the years fell away.

But then she pulled away far too soon and suddenly the years came back.

Julia looked up into his eyes. "Are…are we okay?"

Alonzo hesitated, and was hit by a wave of amusement. He pulled away from her, turning to look out into the twilight. "Did you feel that?" he said.

"Yes," Julia whispered. She looked out to the ridge they'd crossed over earlier, and there was a Terrier dimly visible in the growing twilight.

Alonzo waved at the Terrier, and amazingly, it waved back.

"Well, that's reassuring," Julia said quietly. "At least one of them still likes us."

Alonzo nodded, watching the Terrier disappear back over the ridge.

"I guess I'd better go tell Devon about this," Julia said, but she didn't seem anxious to leave.

_That's a switch_, Alonzo thought, glancing over at her, and he suddenly realized with a shock that he'd actually gotten her. And now he didn't know what to do with her.

"Alonzo?" she said tentatively, noticing his look. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" he said. "Oh…yeah, I'm fine. Uh…thanks for the dinner."

Julia frowned. "Sure," she said finally. She hesitated, looked back at the camp, then turned back to him. "So…be careful tonight?"

"Yeah," he said.

She nodded uncertainly, then stooped to pick up the empty bowls she'd set down on the ground, and started back to the camp.

_Jeez_, Alonzo thought, groaning inwardly as he watched her go. _Thanks for dinner? I am such an idiot!_

_What did I just do?_ Julia thought. _This is exactly what Devon warned me about. I do things without thinking, and it always gets me into trouble! _ But he'd looked so hurt by her reaction to finding out his age, she hadn't been able to help herself.

_And apparently that was the wrong thing to do,_ she thought bitterly. Clearly, he'd been uncomfortable with the kiss, despite how he'd seemed in the med tent before. He'd even seemed distracted when the Terrier showed up.

Julia sighed, coming up to the Transrover. Devon was hunched over a workbench Danziger had set up, struggling to put a handgun back together. She threw down the barrel of the gun and rubbed at her temples.

"Headache?" Julia said.

Devon turned to look at her. "That doesn't begin to describe it," she said.

Julia smiled. "Valerie said it felt like her brain was liquefying," she said. "I thought that was a pretty good description of what I felt. It's the Terrier. One was just here, and Alonzo and I both felt it. It seemed friendly, so maybe the one we saw yesterday was just too busy to talk." She frowned as Devon continued rubbing her temples. "At least, I'm hoping that's one less thing for us to worry about."

"Easy for you to say," Devon said, wincing. "Your brain isn't liquefying."

"It gets less painful the more you do it," Julia reassured her. "I hardly notice it anymore. I'll go get you some ketoxidine. That should take the edge off."

"Thanks," Devon said, suddenly sounding vastly relieved. "But I think it's getting better."

"Good," Danziger said. "Then there's no excuse for you not finishing this before you go to bed."

Devon glared at him.

"I'm serious," he said. "You're going to finish that, and you're going to take it with you to your tent. With the clip and power coil removed."

"Danziger-" Devon began.

"Adair," Danziger interrupted, "don't argue. You want to get over the gun fear thing, you need to spend some quality time with them. It's the only way you'll ever get comfortable with them."

Tru bit her cheek, and she saw Julia fighting not to smile, too. _God, Dad, could you be more obvious? There's practically an LED sign flashing above your head reading "METAPHOR!"_

"I was just going to say that I'm on sentry duty tonight," Devon said patiently.

Danziger frowned. "We agreed we'd only put people on duty who'd been approved by me and Helen to handle the guns."

"I made an executive decision to add myself to the crew tonight," Devon said. She raised her hand as he started to protest. "I'm not taking anybody's place, I'm just an extra pair of eyeballs. But I will take the gun, just in case." Danziger still looked unhappy. "Look, I'm not likely to sleep much anyway," Devon added. "I figure I might as well be productive while I'm awake."

"Fine," Danziger said gruffly. "Then once you get Uly to bed, come back here, and I'll give you the basics you need to be able to use that thing tonight. If it comes to that." _Which I hope to god it doesn't_, he added silently, watching Devon struggle to reassemble the gun.

* * *

It had taken her another six times taking it apart and putting it back together before Devon felt at all comfortable with the process. And it had done next to nothing for her comfort level with the gun itself, despite Danziger's confidence.

Devon sighed, blinking sleepily as she looked out at the barest hints of dawn beginning to appear on the eastern horizon. She knew Danziger was right, that the only way she would ever get comfortable with a gun would be to spend a lot of time with one, but even that thought made her nervous.

_Suck it up, Adair_, she told herself. _You said you wanted to do it, so you're going to do it. And I'll be damned if I let Danziger have the satisfaction of seeing me give up._

She had to admit, though, that he had been remarkably patient with her fumbling with the handgun. She hadn't expected that at all, especially given her general prickliness towards him in the past. But once she'd gotten the gun broken down and successfully reassembled the second time, he'd told her he was comfortable with her carrying it, though he all but ordered her not to use it unless her life depended on it.

_You don't need to worry about that_, she thought glumly, glancing over at where Danziger was standing sentry beside the Transrover. _I think hell could probably freeze over twice before I'd use this thing willingly._ It made her crazy that she was still so nervous about it, especially since she really couldn't understand why she felt that way. It wasn't like she'd had a bad experience with a gun-she'd never even seen one till they crashed on G-889. _And since then I've had nothing but object lessons in why I should be able to handle one._

A sudden piercing wail suddenly ripped through the pre-dawn silence, and Devon nearly fell off the fender of the ATV she'd been sitting on.

"Proximity alert!" Danziger's voice said over the common channel on the gear, and he was shouting to hear himself over the alarm. "Sentries, make sure your weapons are ready and keep your eyes open. Everybody else, stay inside the tents and keep your heads down!"

"I got movement over here!" Rick shouted over the gear. "Looks like the Council boys decided to show up."

"If you get a shot," Devon said, slapping her gear to respond, "you take it. That goes for everybody, understood? They shot first, so it's open season."

"Yes, ma'am!" Hardy said, but he sounded more scared than glad.

In seconds, Devon could understand why. Rick was the first to take a shot, but the agents, however many there were, responded immediately. Devon ducked behind the ATV, clutching the handgun in her hand and wincing at the almost constant roar of mag-pro shots being fired.

"Jesus!" Todd said from a few meters away. "How many of them are there?"

"I count six or seven so far," Helen said over the gear. "Four, maybe five of them in the treeline on the northeast side of the camp, two more in the rocks on the southeast side."

"And I've got two more due south," Danziger said. "Okay, eight or nine we can handle."

_We can?_ Devon thought, cringing at the gunfire. She hated to think how scared Uly must be if she was already this terrified. It sounded like the world was ending.

"I don't know, Danz," Hardy said. "I can't get a shot-they're keeping to cover."

"Just lay down some fire," Danziger said. "Even if the shot doesn't nail one of 'em, it'll make 'em keep their heads down and make it harder for them to get a shot."

_I sure hope so_, Devon thought, debating about whether she should try to make it to her tent. But the thought of standing up in the midst of all that noise left her frozen in place.

* * *

"Okay, make sure we've got painblock and clotting agent ready to go," Julia said to Melanie as she cleared her bunk of the blankets she'd just been sleeping on. "You're in charge of triage, okay? I'll go out if there's somebody who needs treatment on the scene. We'll bring them back and stage out of here. If we need more beds, we'll bring them from the surrounding tents."

"Okay," Melanie said uncertainly. "But what if-"

"Hey, Melanie!" Rick shouted over the gear. "You there?"

"Yeah," Melanie said. "Is everyone okay?"

"So far," he said, "but I don't think it's gonna stay that way. Remember how I said we should save your idea for a rainy day?"

"Is it raining?"

"Pouring," Rick said, firing into the stand of trees just outside of the camp on the northeast side. There were at least five agents with mag-pros in it, and it didn't look like they'd be able to get a shot at any of them. _I thought these guys weren't supposed to know how to keep under cover out here_, he thought. "And I have the perfect spot to use it."

"I'm on it," Melanie said. "It'll take me a minute to put together, though."

"Fine, just hurry," Rick said, hoping they had a minute to spare.

"Put what together?" Julia said, frowning at Melanie.

"No time," Melanie said, grabbing a three-liter bioplast jug from underneath her cot. She pulled a big wad of cotton and one of the emergency firestarters Rick was always using out of a bag by her bunk, then turned and grabbed a couple of empty water bottles from the emergency pods. She turned to go out the tent flap, then paused and looked back at Julia. "Um…I'll be right back," she said, smiled hesitantly, then ducked out of the tent.

"Melanie!" Julia shouted. "Where are you going?" And that's when she heard the first explosion.

* * *

"Uly, are you there?" Devon shouted into her gear.

"Yes," he said, sounding terrified.

"Where are you?"

"I-In our tent," he said. "I don't know where Yale is though."

"Yale is fine," Devon said, hoping he was.

Suddenly there was a massive noise from the other side of the camp, and Devon looked up in time to see the ATV fly through the air and crash into the bluff. _Oh, god, they have __explosives__?_ Devon thought, watching the dust cloud billowing up.

"Inez! Are you okay?" Devon heard Phoebe shout. Inez said something in reply, but Devon couldn't make it out. She thought she heard Julia say something over the gear, but it was lost in all the shouting.

"I think I got one!" she heard Todd shout. "I got one!"

"Don't start the party yet!" Danziger yelled. He was crouched next to the other end of the Transrover from Devon, firing a mag-pro at a steady rate. "Everybody stay under cover and away from the vehicles! They're targeting the vehicles!" He glanced over at Devon. "Get away from here, Dev!"

Devon looked back at him. "What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you," he said, but then his eyes got wide as he saw something behind her. "Melanie, what the hell are you doing?" he said, slapping at his gear.

"Relax, Danziger," Melanie said over the gear. "I had an idea. Just keep them off my back for a second!"

Danziger swore under his breath. "Everybody, cover Mel!" he shouted. There was a flurry of mag-pro firing.

"Uly, you stay where you are, okay?" Devon said. "I'm coming to get you. Stay in the tent."

"Holy-!" Danziger said. "Mel, you're a genius!"

Devon looked over to where Danziger was looking and saw flames shooting up through the thick stand of trees behind the camp.

_Now's as good a time as any_, Devon thought. She steadied herself, tightened her grip on the handgun and ran for her tent.

She was only a couple of meters away when another of the explosives went off behind her. She was thrown forward, crashing into the side of the tent, and it crumpled under her.

"Devon!" she dimly heard Julia shout, and then suddenly Julia was there, rolling her over onto her back and looking terrified.

"Mom?" Uly said, poking his head out of the partially-collapsed tent.

"I'm…" Devon began, but the wind had been knocked out of her, and she couldn't seem to get a breath.

Julia was running the diaglove over her, and she looked relieved. "She's okay, Uly," she said, looking up at him and smiling reassuringly. "Just-"

Before she could finish, Uly's eyes got wide, and Julia turned to see what he was looking at behind her.

There was a Council agent with a very large mag-pro standing behind her in the gap between two of the tents. He started to raise the barrel of the mag-pro, and Julia threw herself over Devon, covering Devon's head with her arms.

"Stop!" Uly yelled. "I'll shoot you! I will!"

Devon gasped, finally able to get a breath, and Julia half-rose, looking back to where Uly was standing, the handgun Devon had been carrying looking enormous in his hands. He looked utterly determined, and the gun was pointed steadily at the agent. Julia turned to look back over her shoulder at the agent, holding her breath.

The agent paused for an instant, looking amused, then slightly nervous. Devon's heart raced as she realized he was debating whether he could get a shot off before Uly could.

"Uly, shoot-" Devon began, and then stopped as her head began to pound.

There was a thunderous sound of galloping, and suddenly an arrow flew over Julia's head. Uly's head whipped around to look behind him, then turned back to look at Devon, his face awash with joy.

Julia slapped at her gear. "Nobody shoot the Terrier! It's on our side! Don't shoot it!" she yelled, and Devon looked past her to where the Council agent was slowly falling to the ground, an arrow in his chest.

"Our side?" Phoebe said somewhere behind Uly. "Somebody's on our side? Well, hallelujah!"

The steady firing of mag-pros in the distance slowed and then stopped, though the firing from inside the camp continued for a few more seconds. Then, amazingly, it was quiet.

The Terrier that had shot the Council agent walked up behind Uly, who turned to look up at it, smiling. It lowered its weapon and made the peaceful gesture. Devon felt Julia's gratitude and relief echoing and amplifying her own, and the Terrier knelt on its midlegs, bowing. Then it rose, turned, and galloped out of the camp.

"Wow," Devon breathed, still feeling a little dazed. "That was close."

"Devon!" Danziger shouted, running up and falling to his knees next to her. He grabbed her by both shoulders as Julia helped her to sit up. "Are you okay?"

Devon nodded, though she was still breathing hard. "Yeah, I'm good. Is everybody else okay?"

Danziger looked hard at her for a moment, then seemed satisfied she really was all right, and nodded. "Um…I-I don't know yet." He looked really rattled, which surprised Devon. He slapped at his gear. "Everybody, report in to Helen, okay? I want a headcount. And I want a report from the sentries-I want to know if there are still agents out there!" He looked back at Devon, still holding her arms tightly.

"I'm fine, John," she said, suddenly feeling nervous. "Thanks to that Terrier. And Uly."

Danziger let her go and turned to look over at Uly, as though he'd suddenly realized how close he was to Devon. "Uly, can you make that gun safe?" Danziger said.

Uly blinked at him for a second, then his eyes went wide, and he nodded. He turned and pointed the gun away, taking his finger off the trigger, then flipped on the safety. He released the magazine, laid it on the ground, then cleared the chamber, removed the power coil, and laid it and the gun next to the magazine.

"Attaboy," Danziger said. "C'mere." He held out his arms and wrapped Uly in a bearhug. "You did great, kid. I owe you one."

"Hey, Julia," Melanie said over the gear. "We have a problem. Med tent."

Julia glanced at Devon, reassuring herself that she was all right, and then ran for the med tent.

Devon saw her leave and felt a sinking feeling. She tapped her gear. "Helen, how are we?"

"Two injuries, one serious," Helen said. "Hardy took a bullet to the leg. Rick and Rob got him to the med tent. Inez got hit by some shrapnel, but she's insisting she's okay and can wait."

"Is everyone else accounted for?" Devon asked.

"Almost-I'm assuming Melanie's okay, because she just called Julia. But I still haven't heard from Yale," Helen said, sounding worried.

Devon got up, and Danziger released Uly and grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Easy there, Devon," he said. "You took quite a spill. Might want to go slow."

"Yale hasn't reported in," Devon said.

Danziger frowned, then slapped his gear. "Everybody, do a search of the camp. Yale's missing!"

"Over here!" Toshiko called. "He's right here!"

Devon turned to see Toshiko waving at her from behind a tent near where the ATV had been hit. _Oh, god_, she thought. _What if-?_ "Uly, stay here," she said with a tone in her voice that froze him in place, and set off at a run.

Danziger was right behind her. They rounded the tent and found Toshiko kneeling next to Yale. He was sitting against the bluff, and though his expression was angry, he was trembling violently.

"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate," he murmured, his voice barely audible.

"What the hell does that mean?" Danziger said. "Was that Latin or something?"

"Yale?" Devon said gently, kneeling next to him opposite Toshiko. "Yale, can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Yale suddenly blinked, the look of anger vanishing in an instant, and he turned to look at Devon. "What happened?"

Devon frowned. "I don't know, Yale," she said. "Were you hit when the ATV got blown up?"

Yale looked confused. "I do not know, Devon," he said, and there was an almost childlike fear in his voice. "I-I don't remember."


	2. Chapter 2

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 2

* * *

A/N: I'd forgotten how much reviews are like crack. Like caffeinated, sugar-coated, chocolatey crack. How did I ever kick that addiction for so long? Thanks, Nagging Cube! You're adorable. I had this chapter ready to go, so I decided, what the heck, go ahead and post it. Because I have no self-control. None.

On to chapter 2, during the reading of which you might want to remember the tagline of that great series, The X-Files: trust no one.

* * *

"What's the problem?" Julia said, coming into the med tent, but the moment she saw who was on the cot with Melanie and Rob standing over him, she knew.

"Don't even think about it!" Hardy said. "I am not letting her touch me!"

"Hardy, do you have any idea how close that bullet is to your…your…junk?" Melanie said, flushing.

Hardy went nearly as red. "I don't care! I'll take my chances with you!"

"Melanie, you have to do this," Julia said.

"What?!" Melanie said. "Are you kidding me? I can't do this! Look at this scan! The bullet's right next to the femoral artery! What if I—?"

"Mel, if he doesn't want me to treat him, I can't make him," Julia said steadily. "And as the only other option here, you have an obligation to do this."

All at once, Melanie realized what Julia was doing. She took a shaky breath, then turned back to look at Hardy, finally letting her hands shake the way they seemed determined to do.

"I need to go check on the other injuries," Julia said, glancing at Hardy to see if he had changed his mind yet. "Call me if you need a consult." She turned to leave the med tent.

"Okay, I think I know how to do this," Melanie said uncertainly, "but don't blame me if you end up dead. Or impotent."

"If you think that little performance is gonna make me let that Council spy work on me, you're wrong," Hardy said through gritted teeth. "Just do it."

Melanie bit back the retort she wanted to make. "Rob, give him the painblock," she said.

Hardy grabbed Rob's hand before he could administer the hypospray. "That better not be a sedative," he said.

"It isn't," Rob said evenly, but the disapproval in his tone was palpable.

Hardy let his hand go, and Rob injected the painblock. Hardy let out a minute sigh as the painblock took effect.

"Look," Melanie said, trying one last time, "this is gonna hurt, even with the painblock. If I give you my word that I won't let Julia treat you, will you—?"

"Just get started," Hardy said. "I can take it."

Melanie gritted her teeth. She scanned his leg one more time before starting the incision, then froze. "What the—?" she breathed.

"What is it?" Hardy said, looking up at her shocked expression. "You'd better not be trying to scare me!"

Melanie looked at him, her eyes wide. "It's…moving!"

"What?" Hardy said, confused. "What's moving?"

"What the hell is that thing?" Rob said, studying the scan and looking horrified.

"Julia!" Melanie said, slapping her gear to open a channel. "Get in here! We've got a bigger problem than we thought!"

"What do you mean?" Julia said.

"I mean, the bullet is moving!" Melanie said impatiently.

"Moving?" Julia said, incredulous. "How can a bullet be moving?"

"How the hell would I know?" Melanie said. "I'm just a comm tech!"

"Melanie," Yale said, cutting in on the gear, "how big is it?"

"Please tell me you mean the bullet," Melanie said.

"What else would I mean?" Yale said, sounding confused.

"You don't want to know…" Melanie hesitated, studying the scan. "Four…no, five centimeters, give or—"

"It is a worm bullet!" Yale interrupted.

"A what?" Melanie said. "What the hell is a worm bullet?"

"There is no time to explain," Yale said insistently. "We must get it out immediately!"

"I'd love to," Melanie said, "but I'm not sure how—it's burrowing into him! It's already two centimeters deeper than it was the first time I scanned it!"

"Melanie, there is no time to argue," Yale said insistently. "Worm bullets are designed to explode after a set period of time!"

"Explode!?" Melanie said. "This thing's gonna blow up!?"

Hardy went even whiter than he already had been. "This better not be some crazy plan to get me to let Julia work on me!" he said, glaring at Melanie.

Melanie looked from his face to his leg, then turned and grabbed a hypospray, slapped a sedative into it and injected it in Hardy before he could protest. "Julia, get your ass in here, now!"

"On my way," Julia said breathlessly.

Melanie studied the scan, then said, "Laser cut," and began making an incision just ahead of the trajectory the bullet was taking, carefully angling away from the artery and the nerve next to it. "Rob, get the hell out of here," she said quietly. "Please."

"Not a chance," Rob said.

Moments later, Julia rushed into the tent, with Yale right behind her. "Where are we?" she said, looking over Melanie's shoulder.

"I'm almost there, but I'm not sure I went in far enough ahead of it," Melanie said, and she sounded terrified.

Julia ran a scan using her own diaglove. "No, you're fine," she said reassuringly. "Just keep going. You've got it."

"You should take over," Melanie said.

"There isn't time," Yale insisted. "Worm bullets can be set to go off at any interval of time."

Melanie made a tiny noise. "You really need to stop telling me these things," she said.

"You're doing fine, Mel. The incision's deep enough," Julia said, glancing over at Yale uneasily. There was something unnerving about the nearly blank look on his face.

Melanie took a ragged breath, then turned and grabbed forceps off the tray beside the cot. She plunged them into the incision, holding her breath, and then slowly pulled out a frighteningly large bullet. It made a faint grinding noise as the rotation of the front end of the bullet fought the grip of the forceps. There was an even fainter chirp coming from it that seemed to be accelerating as she studied the bullet with a sick horror.

"Give it to me!" Yale said, and he grabbed the bullet from Melanie before she could even turn towards him. He ran for the tent flap. Melanie looked wide-eyed at Julia, then turned back to look at Hardy's wound, but before she could say anything, there was the sound of a massive explosion from outside the tent. Melanie let out a yelp, and Julia grabbed her to be sure she didn't accidentally injure Hardy. The tent wall on the north side bowed in for a moment, then settled back in place.

"Jeeeesus," Melanie breathed, leaning over Hardy and looking like she might faint. "That was close."

"No kidding," Rob said, smiling shakily at her as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. "You did great, Melanie."

Julia turned to go to the tent flap, but before she could pull it back, Yale was there. "Are you okay?" she asked him, looking him over for injuries.

"I am well," he said. "The bullet has been destroyed."

"Thank you," she said fervently. "We'll finish up with Hardy and then get the story about those things from you."

Yale nodded and ducked back out of the tent. Julia turned back to Melanie. "Do you want me to take over?" she asked.

Melanie nodded wordlessly, took a step back and nearly fell onto her cot.

* * *

"How bad is the fire?" Devon asked Danziger as he came into the mess tent close to noon. They'd been careful not to let anyone go outside, but Danziger had insisted on checking on the fire, just in case it might threaten the camp.

"It looks like it's burning itself out," he said. "Rick was right—that was about the best place to use that stuff. There are rocks above and below that spot, so the fire doesn't have anywhere else to go. And Yale throwing that bullet up there actually helped. It blew most of the fire out entirely."

Devon nodded, relieved. "Any word on Hardy?"

"Rob's in with Melanie and Julia," Rick said. "I'm sure they'll tell us as soon as they know something."

"We have sentries back in place," Danziger said, "and I checked the perimeter alarm. As long as everybody stays inside, I think we're okay, at least as long as we don't get any more weird bullets flying around."

Devon turned to Yale, who was still looking a little dazed. "What the hell is a worm bullet?" she asked him.

"Worm bullet?" Alonzo said, and he sounded stunned. "That's what that explosion was?"

"Yes," Devon said, "according to Yale. You know about them, too?" But Alonzo didn't answer. He turned away, looking almost sick.

"It is a special use ordnance," Yale said, "one that was developed early in the history of the stations for use by snipers. It has never seen widespread use, mainly because in the environment of the stations it was far too dangerous."

"Yeah," Danziger said dryly, "an explosion like that'd be bad on a space station."

Yale nodded. "It was primarily used in suppression of mining revolts in the asteroid belt. The idea was that a person hit by a bullet would retreat back among his compatriots, and then the bullet would explode, taking many more rebels with it."

"That's brutal!" Toshiko said, looking as horrified as Alonzo.

"Yes, which is why they weren't used very much, despite their effectiveness," Yale said. "Some CSF forces were…" He paused, blinking rapidly, then continued. "…were reluctant to use them. I am quite surprised to see them here."

"I'm surprised you know so much about them," Devon said, frowning at him.

Yale looked a little confused. "My databases are extensive," he said, but there was an odd, halting cadence to his words. He looked like he was about to say something else, then stopped.

Devon studied him for a moment, worried, but he seemed to get over whatever was bothering him. _But I need to get Julia to take a look at him_, she thought. She turned to Danziger. "So what do we do now?"

"A sniper like this isn't going to give up easily," Alonzo said darkly. "Anybody willing to use one of those bullets has to be a Council true believer."

Danziger nodded. "We can't go anywhere, not as long as that guy's out there. If we start packing up, we'll be sitting ducks."

"I doubt if Julia will let us move until Hardy's stable anyway," Rick said. "But what about the sniper?"

"There's no way to get at him," Danziger said. "Those guys are trained for this sort of thing. And even though they're out of their element in this environment, they're still way better at being sneaky than any of us. I'd hate to see us lose anybody trying to take him out."

"But we can't just stay here!" Devon protested. "He'll just keep taking shots at us till he gets all of us!"

Danziger sighed. "Give me a little time," he said. "I might be able to work up some way to use the perimeter sensors to get a fix on him. If I can do that, we might have a shot at getting him. And for now, the area around the med tent and the mess tent should be fairly safe. We made sure to set those up in the area protected by the bluff. That's why that one agent had to come all the way in to get at you, Devon. We might be able to move some of the other tents closer in to that to give some more protection."

"But how do we even know he's still out there?" Devon said. "You said we got several of them."

Danziger glanced over at Yale. "You have a recording function, right?" he asked. "Can you review it, see if you can tell what happened?"

Yale looked uncomfortable. "I am not certain how much I recorded," he said. "There is a gap in my conscious memory."

"Just try, Yale," Devon said. "Maybe if you review it, you'll be able to tell what happened to you."

Yale finally nodded reluctantly. "This may take me a moment," he said.

Devon nodded.

"What about our Terrier friend?" Alonzo said.

Devon looked over at him, surprised she'd forgotten about her rescuer so quickly. "Can you warn him about the agents?" she said, worried. "I don't want to get us into a war with the Terriers because he runs into them."

Alonzo looked uncertain. "I can try," he said. But even as he formed the thoughts, he got an almost immediate sensation of righteous anger, then reassurance and determination. "Oh, crap," he breathed, then sent out a desperate negative. "Don't go after him on your own, buddy!"

"What?!" Devon said. "You're in contact with him now?"

Alonzo nodded, screwing his eyes shut and trying to convey how dangerous the agent was. The Terrier sent back a feeling of gratitude mixed with amusement and arrogance. "I think he's saying he can take care of himself," Alonzo said, and got a sense of approval.

"I hope so," Danziger said. "It'd make things a lot easier for us if he could take that sniper out."

"Tell him to be careful!" Devon said, and tried to convey her fear and worry through her own thoughts. Her headache came back, then faded slightly as her brain seemed to adjust to the bizarre form of communication. _Please_, she thought at it, _don't try to do this on your own. I don't want you hurt._

She immediately felt a strong sense of reassurance, and then the feeling faded.

"He's gone," Alonzo said. "I sure hope that means he's calling out the cavalry."

* * *

"What sedative did you use?" Julia asked Melanie, studying the scan of Hardy's leg once she'd closed the incision.

Melanie blinked, then turned to look at the hypospray Rob had used. She showed it to Julia, who smiled faintly. "Why didn't you use methohex?" she said.

"I was kind of in a hurry," Melanie said dryly. "This was the closest sedative to me."

Julia nodded. "Well, that means we don't have much time before he wakes up," she said, and Melanie nearly laughed at the resignation in her voice. "You did a good job, Melanie," Julia added. "That incision couldn't have been in a better spot. His leg's going to heal pretty fast."

"Thanks," Melanie said. "But keep that information to yourself, okay? I don't want people thinking I know more than I do."

Julia smiled. "Sure," she said, bandaging Hardy's leg. She pulled a blanket up over him once she was done.

"How's everybody else?" Melanie said.

"Inez has a gash on her shoulder," Julia said, "and a few bumps and bruises. Yale was also banged up, according to Devon, but I hadn't gotten to the point of scanning him when you called me in. He seemed okay, though."

"More than okay," Melanie said. "I didn't think he could move that fast."

Hardy groaned and shifted slightly on the bunk. "Hardy?" Julia said.

"Get away from me!" he said groggily, pushing her hand away from his shoulder.

Julia pulled back as if she'd been burned.

"You are a cast-iron idiot," Melanie said to him.

"Are you kidding me? It's her fault I'm lying here at all, her and her Council buddies!"

"And here we go again," Melanie groaned.

"What the hell was that thing, anyway?" he said, looking up at Julia. "Only the Council could come up with a bullet that moves!"

"You'll have to ask Ya—" Melanie began, but Hardy cut her off.

"I wasn't asking you," he said.

"How on earth would I know?" Julia said. "I'm a doctor, not a CSF agent."

"So you say," Hardy said. "But I think you and your pals out there planned this whole thing!"

"Hardy, I was here, in camp, with you," Julia said patiently. "How could I have planned anything?"

"And who do you think is the most likely person to get blown up with one of those bullets?" Melanie said. "I'll give you a hint—she has blue eyes and she's standing about a meter from you. And my eyes are brown, FYI."

"Oh, come on! If Yale hadn't come running in to tell you about that bullet, she'd have been long gone, and we'd all be dead," Hardy said.

"Hardy, if you don't shut up, I'll sedate you again," Melanie said coldly. "Hell, I might do it even if you do shut up."

"Mel, let it go," Julia said tiredly. "I'm going to go check on Inez and Yale."

"I'm coming with you," Melanie said, looking disgustedly at Hardy. "If I stay in here, I'm liable to kill him myself."

Julia hesitated, then decided Hardy might end up sedated again, and that wasn't healthy. "Rob, will you keep an eye on him?"

Rob nodded reluctantly.

"Thanks," she said. "Call me if anything changes—don't hesitate, okay?"

"Sure," he said.

Julia nodded at Melanie and ducked out of the tent. She made her way quickly around to the bluff side of the tent and started towards the mess tent.

"So what was that thing you and Rick came up with?" she asked Melanie, glancing back at her as they walked.

"Thing?" Melanie said with wide-eyed innocence. "What thing?"

"With that jug, and the cotton…" Julia looked suspicious. "Wait a minute. Mel, what did you do?"

"Don't stop out here!" Melanie said, hurrying past her into the mess tent. "It's a lot safer inside."

"There she is!" Rick said as Melanie came into the tent. "Hey, Mel, everybody was asking me how you came up with that great idea."

Melanie groaned inwardly. _I am so dead_, she thought.

"Yes, Melanie, we'd all like to know about that," Julia said dryly, coming into the tent behind her.

"I bet it was a VR," Devon said, grinning. "Mystery or action?"

"It was a documentary," Melanie said with dignity. "On the twentieth century." She hesitated, then decided she might as well get it over with. "They called them Molotov cocktails, after some Russian guy in the Second World War. You take a breakable container, like a glass bottle or a bioplast bottle that's degraded like the one Hardy broke the other day, and you fill it with a flammable liquid. Stick some sort of fuse in, like a piece of cloth, then light it. When you throw it, the container breaks, the liquid spreads all over, then ignites. Whoosh, instant fire."

"What sort of flammable liquid?" Julia asked, giving her a hard look.

"Well, I…uh…I used ethyl alcohol," Melanie said, then added quickly, "but I also added some magnesium from one of those firestarters of Rick's. I threw in a bunch of shavings so they'd kick up the temperature when they ignited."

"Smart," Danziger said, nodding admiringly. "That's why those trees went up so fast."

"Ethyl alcohol?" Julia said, raising her eyebrows. "And where exactly did you get this ethyl alcohol?"

"Oh, come on, Julia, you can't blame me for trying!" Melanie said. "If the synthlab can manufacture a disinfectant that's mostly alcohol, it made sense to try to make one that was all alcohol!"

"Oh, so you were just trying to disinfect your stomach lining? Melanie, do you know what pure alcohol can do to the human system?" Julia said angrily. "Alcohol poisoning is dangerous!"

"I couldn't have poisoned myself with that stuff," Melanie said defensively. "It tasted awful by itself."

"What?" Julia gasped. "Melanie—!"

"Kidding!" Melanie said quickly. "I'm just kidding, Julia!"

Julia glared at Devon when she started to laugh.

"I was trying to figure out how to cut it with something else," Melanie continued, "but I hadn't come up with anything yet. Then I had the idea for the cocktails—I mean, the Molotov kind."

"Julia," Rick cut in before she could say more, "she did get those agents out in the open. And I was the one who told her to go ahead with the idea."

"The idea to manufacture a toxic, mind-altering substance using a vital but delicate piece of medical equipment?" Julia said, turning her glare on him.

"No!" Rick said, raising his hands and backing away. "No, just the fire thing!"

Devon stepped in. "Okay, I think they get the point," she said to Julia. "How is Hardy?"

Julia glared at Melanie for a moment. "Hardy's going to be fine," she said, glancing at Devon. But then she turned back and jabbed her finger at Melanie. "But you won't be if you touch my synthlab again without my supervision. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Melanie said contritely.

Julia glared at her for a few more seconds to make her point, then turned to look for Inez, and saw Alonzo sitting near the back of the tent, looking like he was a thousand light years away and it hadn't been a pleasant trip. Julia frowned, wondering what was wrong, but before she could go up to him, Toshiko had grabbed her arm to drag her over to Inez, who looked annoyed at the attention.

"How are you feeling, Inez?" Julia said, trying to focus on her.

"I'm fine," she said, glaring at Toshiko. "Like I keep telling everybody. It was just a little cut. But you should look at Yale. I think he got hit more by the blast than I did."

Julia turned to Melanie. "Give her another scan, would you? I want to be sure the cut is clean. I'll take care of Yale."

Melanie nodded, and Julia looked over at Yale, but his eyes were closed, though she could see the eye underneath the lid moving rapidly.

"Give him a minute," Devon said. "He's reviewing his recordings of the attack. We're trying to figure out how many of them there were, and how many we might have gotten."

"And if there really is still a sniper out there," Danziger said.

Julia looked nervously at Yale. "Are you sure he should be doing that? You said he might have been injured."

Devon frowned. "I hadn't thought of that," she said. "Do you think I should interrupt him?"

Julia frowned. "No," she said hesitantly. "That might actually be worse. Let him finish. Were there any other injuries?"

Danziger shook his head. "We got off lucky," he said. "At least for now."

"Julia," Devon said as Yale's eyes opened, but he looked strange.

"Yale?" Julia said. "Are you all right?" She stepped forward and began running her diaglove over him.

He looked up at her, but it looked to Devon like he wasn't looking at her, but through her.

"Don't you think I know that?" he whispered angrily, and all trace of his normal accent was gone, a standard Station 2 accent in its place.

"Yale?" Devon said, and he turned to look at her, and it was the Yale she knew, but he looked confused.

"Devon? What just happened?" he asked her, and his voice was back to normal.

"I don't know," Devon said uneasily, glancing at Julia. Julia caught the look and shrugged.

"His readings appear normal, but his brain activity is a little elevated," Julia said. She looked back at Yale. "What do you remember?"

Yale blinked at her a moment, then said, "I was reviewing the recordings of the attack. I cannot be certain, but I believe that there were nine different attackers. Of those, I can account for two who were hit before the ATV was blown up. I believe at least one was killed outright. The other may have only been injured."

"What about after that?" Danziger said. "After Melanie set those trees on fire."

"There is a brief gap in my recordings," Yale said. "I can only assume that there was an interruption due to the explosion. Then the recordings begin again, and I believe that three more agents were hit immediately. I cannot be sure about the remaining four, but I do believe the sniper is still out there. The shot that struck Hardy came from above the stand of trees that Melanie set on fire, and that shot came well after the fire began."

"And then?" Devon asked, wondering again about the strange words he'd spoken after the attack.

"Then there is a longer gap in my recordings," Yale said uncertainly. "Approximately four minutes."

"What do you remember?" Julia said.

"Nothing," he said. "If it is not in my databanks, I cannot remember it. That is a function of my cybernetic implants. Suppression of organic memory."

Julia looked down at her diaglove. "But—" she began, then stopped, looking confused. "I'd like to do a full brain scan of you, Yale. I want to be sure the explosion didn't somehow damage your interface." She looked around the mess tent. "Where's Valerie?"

"She's on watch," Rick said. "Do you want me to go get her?"

Julia looked uncertain, then shook her head. "No," she said. "It can wait. I'd like to run some scans, then I'll have a better idea of what to ask her."

"What do you need to know?" Morgan said suddenly, and Julia turned to look at him, surprised. "Look, I know a lot about the Yale program," he added, giving her a significant look. "A lot."

"Morgan, I don't think—" Julia began.

"What are his ACTH levels?" Morgan interrupted.

Julia looked surprised. She glanced down at her diaglove and frowned.

"They're high, aren't they?" Morgan persisted.

"Morgan, not here," Julia said quietly, pointedly not looking at the crowd of people around them. "Yale, come with me to the med tent. You, too, Morgan."

Devon grabbed Julia's arm. "Julia—"

Julia looked at her. "If something's wrong, Devon, we'll figure it out, okay?"

Devon bit her lip, then turned to Yale. "Do you mind if I come with you?" she asked.

Yale looked surprised, then smiled gently. "Of course not, Devon."

Julia looked over at Melanie, who was standing next to Inez. She gave Julia a thumb's up, and Julia nodded, relieved. _At least Inez is okay_, she thought uneasily, then shook herself mentally. _There's nothing wrong with Yale_, she told herself. _The higher brain activity and the ACTH levels could both be explained by the stress of the attack, and maybe by his reviewing the recordings._

"Be careful, Adair," Danziger said quietly to Devon as she passed him, following Julia and Yale. "I don't think that guy's likely to try again today, and he'd have to be a wizard to get a shot this far into camp, but don't take any chances. Stick close to the bluff and move fast." Morgan gave him a wide-eyed look as he followed Devon out of the tent.

"Are you sure we can't do this in the mess tent?" Morgan said as Devon stepped through the tent flap.

"Morgan, just come on," Devon said impatiently.

"I'm just saying, I think it's unwise for a group of us to be outside," Morgan said.

Devon turned and poked him in the chest with her finger. "Look, Martin—"

There was the sound of a mag-pro shot, and Valerie yelled, "Everybody, take cover! He's in that stand of trees! Sergei, to your right!" There was a brief flurry of shots.

Yale grabbed Julia and she yelped as he threw her to the ground behind the nearest tent. He whirled to look at Devon. "Devon!" he shouted.

Morgan turned to run back towards the mess tent flap. For an instant Devon watched him, then she turned and started towards Yale. As she did, there was another shot, this one from farther away, and Morgan cried out, falling face down by the mess tent.

Yale lunged forward and grabbed Devon, pulling her hard towards him. They both fell into the space behind the tent.

"Morgan!" Julia yelled, and scrambled to her feet.

"Julia, no!" Devon yelled from where she and Yale had fallen.

Julia ignored her as she ran towards where Morgan lay against the side of the mess tent, struggling to push himself up.

"Morgan?" Bess's voice came from inside the mess tent.

"Stay inside!" Julia yelled. "He's fine!" _He's fine_, she told herself as she landed on her knees next to him. She couldn't see any obvious wounds on his front. _He just fell down._

"Julia, take cover!" Yale yelled.

Julia grabbed Morgan under his arms and half-dragged, half-carried him into the space behind the mess tent.

"Julia?" Morgan said, and his voice sounded strange.

"Morgan, are you okay?" she asked him, starting her scan.

"Uh, I don't…I don't think so," he said weakly, his eyes wide with fear. "I…I can't feel my legs."

* * *

"Helen, what's going on out there?" Danziger shouted into the gear.

"He's gone," Helen said, sounding worried. "I don't know how, but he got in close enough to take the shot, and then got out again. He must have figured out how far the perimeter sensors reach. We're lucky Valerie spotted him when she did—he could have gotten off a lot more shots, and we'd be blown to kingdom come."

"Okay, nobody goes outside, at all, is that clear?" Danziger said. "Helen, you and the other sentries need to stay under cover. If he can get that far into camp, then out again, this guy is really, really good." He forced himself not to think about the fact that the primary target had likely been Devon, based on what Yale had told him over the gear after they'd gotten Morgan safely to the med tent.

"But—" Toshiko began.

"I mean it!" Danziger snapped, and Toshiko jumped, then blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, Tosh," he added gently. "Look, it just isn't safe yet, okay? We'll get this guy, somehow. But until then, we can't take any more risks."

"I know," Toshiko said quietly. "I was just going to ask about Morgan." She glanced over at where Bess was sobbing quietly in Phoebe's arms. "Can't we at least let Bess go be with him?"

Danziger shook his head reluctantly. "The last thing Morgan needs is to have Bess get hit, too," he said. "Julia's working on him, okay? He's gonna be fine."

Toshiko nodded and went over to sit next to Bess.

"What do we do now?" Rick said quietly, coming up next to Danziger.

"I don't have a clue," Danziger said under his breath.

* * *

"Please tell me I'm going to walk again," Morgan said plaintively as Rob and Yale lowered him onto Melanie's bunk.

"It's just swelling," Julia said, studying her scans. "The bullet didn't actually hit anything vital."

"Are you sure?" he said.

"Yes," Julia said, patting his arm. "But I need to go in and get the bullet out, okay? So I have to sedate you."

"If…if I blow up, tell Bess I love her," he said, blinking back tears.

"You're not going to blow up," Julia said, injecting him with the sedative. "I promise."

"Is it moving?" Devon asked, hovering beside the head of the bunk he was lying on.

Julia nodded sharply, studying the scan. "Rob, I want you to get Hardy out of here."

"Are you kidding?" Rob said. "With a sniper out there ready to take our heads off? I'll take my chances with you, thanks."

Hardy looked indecisive, and Julia almost laughed. She knew Rob was right. It wasn't any safer for them outside than it was in the med tent, but leave it to Hardy to assume the worst. _I just have to get this bullet out fast_, she thought, _for all of their sakes_, and began her incision.

It seemed to take forever, and she had to keep reminding herself to breathe. But she was finally able to get to the bullet and get it out safely without doing any major damage to Morgan's internal organs.

The bullet was beeping faintly, but it seemed faster to her than the first one had been.

"Give it to me!" Rob said, but Julia didn't hesitate. She ran for the tent flap, turned as she got outside and in one motion flung the bullet as hard as she could up towards where the trees had already burned. She didn't wait to see the explosion. She turned and ducked back into the tent, breathing a sigh of relief once she got inside, even though she knew it was irrational to think of the tent as any protection.

Rob tapped his gear to open a general channel as he saw Julia come back in. "We've got the bullet out, so if you hear an explosion, don't freak out, okay? We'll let you know how Morgan is in a few."

It was nearly five minutes before they heard the explosion that time, but Julia knew it was unlikely they'd have that much time the next time someone got hit. _Come on, Danziger, you have to figure out a way to get rid of that bastard_, she thought.

Morgan's injuries were serious, but not life-threatening. Julia had to do some work to repair some damage to his right kidney, but that was the worst of it. That took her over two hours to do that because of the damage to some of the crucial blood vessels. There were moments when she wished she had Melanie there, but there was no way she was going to risk having her come back over. The rest of the work took almost another hour, so it was late afternoon by the time she started to close.

"How is he?" Devon asked, looking over her shoulder.

"A lot worse off than he'd be if she weren't here," Hardy said. "And isn't it interesting that every time somebody goes outside, they get shot, but somehow she never does?"

"Rob, if he says another word, you have my permission to shoot him in the head," Devon said.

"Devon, that is not helpful," Yale said gently.

"Maybe not," Rob said, "but I'd be happy to do it."

Hardy looked irritated, but he didn't say anything else.

Julia finished closing Morgan's incision and looked up at Devon. "I don't think there was any damage to the spine. It was close—the bullet missed it by barely a centimeter. But the loss of feeling in his legs was because the initial shock of the impact, followed by the swelling, put pressure on the spinal column. The other damage was serious, but will heal." She pulled a blanket up over Morgan, then glanced at the tent flap. "I'd really like to get Bess in here. Do you think it's safe?"

Devon tapped her gear. "Danziger?"

"Yeah," he said. "How's Morgan?"

"Good enough Julia wants to let Bess see him. Is it safe for her to come over?"

"Not yet," Danziger said. "Rick and I had an idea about that. I'm betting this guy has a night vision scope, so dark isn't gonna be enough. But if we get a bonfire going in the middle of camp, it might make him think twice about trying anything during the night."

"But how are you going to do that without being exposed?"

"Leave that to us. You guys stay put till I give you the word, okay? I'll send Bess over as soon as it's dark enough and we get the fire going."

"Danziger—" Devon began, but he'd already closed the channel. She debated about trying to raise him again, but he'd probably just shut down his gear.

She hadn't needed to worry about Danziger, as it turned out. About twenty minutes later, he called. "I think we're okay," he said. "At least for now—getting more wood might be tough later on. But tell everybody to keep to cover if they do have to leave their tent. We dug a new latrine that's within cover over behind the Transrover."

Before Devon could respond, Bess tore into the med tent. "Morgan, honey?" she said, kneeling next to the cot where he lay.

"He's still sedated," Julia said quickly. "But I think he'll fine." She explained his condition, and Bess looked deeply relieved.

"Thank you, Julia," she said, grabbing Julia's hand in both of her and squeezing it.

"Don't—" Julia began, then caught Devon's look out of the corner of her eye. "You're welcome," she said. "But I want to be clear—there is still a small possibility that there was some damage to the spine. We'll know within the next couple of days, and even if there was damage, it is extremely unlikely to be permanent. But until we know one way or the other, I want to keep him here and keep him still." She smiled. "I may need your help for that."

Bess grinned. "Don't worry. I know how to handle my husband."

Julia nodded, then noticed Yale sitting crosslegged near the tent flap. She frowned and went over and knelt next to him, and he looked at her and smiled faintly.

"I suppose you wish to scan me again," he said.

Julia looked a little embarrassed. "If you don't mind," she said. "I'm sorry—I should have done it hours ago. I'd just like to be sure your readings are back to normal, or whatever is normal for you."

"I do not mind," he said seriously. "And to be perfectly honest, I am a bit concerned about what happened today. I have never experienced a…blackout like that before."

Julia ran her scan, then shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you," she said. "Your scans read normal, with the exception of slightly elevated brain activity, but would you say that's within normal parameters for you?" She showed him the scan.

He nodded.

"Julia, there was one other thing," Devon said. "Right after the ATV got blown up, when I got to him, he said something odd."

"I did?" Yale said, surprised.

Devon nodded. "I don't remember the exact words because I'm pretty sure it was something like Latin or Italian."

"Italian?" Julia said, surprised. She looked at Yale, who shrugged, looking baffled.

"Something ohn-yay…" Devon said, her forehead crinkling as she tried to remember the words, "speranza, I think, and then voy something."

Yale looked thoughtful.

"Do you recognize it?" Julia said.

"_Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate_," he said. "Is that it?"

Devon nodded. "What does it mean?"

Yale looked disturbed. "It is from Dante's Inferno, the third canto. You will probably recognize the translation. 'All hope abandon, you who enter here.'"

_Dante?_ Julia thought, perplexed. _I could see Alonzo quoting that, but Yale?_

"Why on earth would you be quoting Dante in the middle of a firefight?" Bess said, looking over at them.

"That is an excellent question," Yale said gravely.

"And one I don't have any answers for in here," Julia said, gesturing at the diaglove. "I guess it's possible the explosion of the ATV might have given your system a jolt, and for some reason, that quote came up when you…rebooted." She smiled at him. "I guess, for now, you might as well go to your own tent and get some sleep."

"Thank you, Doctor," he said. He climbed to his feet and started out of the tent.

Devon started after him, then paused and looked back at Julia. "What about what Morgan said?" she asked quietly.

"I'll talk to him as soon as he wakes up," Julia said. "If I think there's any reason to be concerned, I'll let you know immediately. Just remember," she added under her breath, "this is Morgan we're talking about."

Devon smiled gratefully at her as she left.

* * *

That night, Devon woke to a splitting headache and the sound of mag-pro fire. But it wasn't from inside the camp. It was far away, and even as she registered that thought, it stopped, and she felt a wave of frustration.

_Don't do anything dangerous_, she thought at the Terrier, hoping it would understand. _We don't want you to be hurt. Please!_

She felt a flicker of surprise, then gratitude mixed with what Devon could only describe as the emotional equivalent of a friendly smile, followed by almost smug confidence.

Devon lay awake, hoping to get something from it again, but she felt nothing more. She drifted off into a series of unsettling dreams that left her feeling far from refreshed when she finally woke up the next morning.

She headed over to the med tent, keeping to the cover by the bluff, to get a pain reliever from Julia. The headaches were getting less intense each time she felt the Terrier, but they still hurt. And she wanted to check on Morgan.

He was still asleep when she entered the tent, with Bess draped across the side of the bunk in what had to be a terribly uncomfortable position.

Julia's looked even worse. She'd curled up next to one of the med crates and had her head pillowed on one arm at an awkward angle.

_We should have brought in extra bunks_, Devon thought, but the moment she thought it she knew it wouldn't have been safe with the sniper still out there.

"Devon?" Julia said, lifting her head to look up at her. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Devon whispered, trying not to wake anyone, especially Hardy. "Just a headache."

"The Terrier," Julia said, nodding. She clambered to her feet, grabbed a hypospray, loaded it and injected Devon.

Devon sighed in relief as the dull ache eased. "I'm happy to suffer this if he can help take out those agents. But I'm worried about him. I hope he doesn't get hurt."

Julia nodded. "Alonzo and I have both been trying to make that point to him, but he doesn't seem interested in our concerns for his safety. He's pretty confident."

"Yeah, I got that, too," Devon said, and sighed. "How are they?" she said, nodding at Morgan and Hardy.

"Both of their scans look good," Julia said quietly. "I think I'd be okay with Hardy being on his feet with crutches today."

"I'll bet," Devon said dryly, and Julia smiled faintly.

"Good," Hardy said, opening his eyes. "I don't want to be stuck in here with her any longer than I absolutely have to."

"Hardy, how did you manage to get that giant stick up your butt?" Melanie said, looking up at him from where she lay near his bunk.

"I've had plenty of time to think about this," Hardy said, ignoring her. "And I'm not buying her story. If she's telling the truth, then why didn't she just tell us what was going on?"

"She had her reasons," Devon said quietly, trying not to wake Morgan and Bess, but it was too late.

"What reasons?" Hardy said. "I don't get it—you seem convinced, but why won't you tell us what those reasons were?"

"He has a point," Morgan said, his voice sounding rough.

Melanie sighed explosively. "Fine, you want to know why she didn't say anything?"

"Mel, don't—" Julia began.

"There's another spy," Melanie said angrily. "Julia couldn't risk telling anyone because she didn't know who might report what she said back to the Council base and get her mother killed."

Bess gasped.

"Another spy?" Morgan said, horrified. "Jesus, it's like the Council Assembly Hall here! Next you're gonna tell me Danziger is actually the Council Chair in disguise!"

"Who is it?" Hardy said, looking sharply at Julia.

"I don't know," Julia said, resigned.

Hardy rolled his eyes. "Well, isn't that convenient."

Devon stared at him, astonished.

"Come on, Adair," he said. "That's the perfect excuse, because you can't prove it one way or the other. And all it does is make us suspicious of each other."

"Which is exactly why Julia didn't want to tell anyone," Devon said, looking pointedly at Melanie, who blushed.

Hardy shook his head, looking monumentally annoyed. "Just give me those crutches and let me go back to my tent. You can stay in here deluding yourselves if you want, but I'm not going to put up with it."

Julia turned and pulled the crutches out from underneath the lab table and handed them to Hardy without a word. He maneuvered himself off the bunk with some difficulty, but no one seemed inclined to help him, not even Bess, Melanie noticed with a bit of _schadenfreude_.

Devon turned to Melanie the moment he'd left the tent, and Melanie braced herself. "Of all the stupid things you could blurt out, why the hell did you have to say that?" Devon said harshly.

"I'm sorry," Melanie said. "I wasn't thinking, and…well, he just makes me so mad!"

Julia sighed. "Well, it's out there now," she muttered, sitting down at the lab table and rubbing her neck.

"And you know he'll tell everyone else," Devon said, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," Melanie said, sounding miserable.

There was the faint sound of a mag-pro shot from outside, and for a moment Melanie had the awful hope that Hardy had been hit, but then she heard Bill scream, "Helen!"

Devon turned to look at the tent flap, but before she could do anything, Julia had grabbed the med kit and was out of the tent.

"No, Julia, wait!" she said.

Julia paused outside the tent, then saw Helen lying on her back on the far side of the camp. She looked like she was trying to get up, but she was holding her side. Bill was running towards her.

Julia sprinted across the open ground towards her, and skidded to a stop just as Bill got there.

"I'm okay," Helen gasped. "It—it's not that bad."

"Let me see," Julia said, pulling Helen's hand away from the wound. She was right. The bullet had only grazed her ribs. There was a long, bloody furrow along her side, but the diaglove showed only one of the ribs had cracked slightly.

Julia pulled back, then looked suddenly towards the center of camp, her eyes wide. "Bill, get her to the nearest tent," she said. "Hurry."

"Julia?" Helen said, frowning, but Bill was grabbing her and helping her to her feet.

Julia stood quickly, looking towards where Helen had to have been. The end of the bluff had a little depression in it on the camp side, and Julia could see how she might have been hit there. _Which means—_

"Julia, get the hell down!" Danziger was yelling.

There was a momentary scream from somewhere in the distance, but it cut off abruptly.

Julia ran and knelt in the hollow the way she thought Helen would have, then looked out to where the shot might have come from and tried to calculate the angle in her head. She looked back to the center of camp, got up and strode quickly several meters in that direction, then got down on her hands and knees and started crawling forward, looking back and forth along the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Devon said, running up and grabbing her arm. "Get the hell under cover!"

"The bullet!" Julia said, wrenching her arm free. "It didn't stop in Helen. It has to be here, somewhere!"

Devon froze.

"Will you two take cover?!" Danziger his voice rising comically.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Devon said after whacking her gear to open a channel. "Be absolutely quiet for a second!"

Julia nodded, glancing up at her, then listened for the faint beeping of the bullet.

"There," Devon whispered, pointing a few meters farther in. Julia scrambled forward, listening, hesitated, then turned and clawed at the dirt. The bullet she held up was mangled, but it was still trying to rotate at the front…and the beeping was getting faster.

Julia scrambled to her feet, sprinted back the way she'd come, and once she'd reached the spot where Helen had been, she flung the bullet as hard as she could.

Devon ran up next to her, grabbed her arm to pull her into cover, and the bullet exploded, throwing them both backwards.

Devon lay on her back for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Julia sat up, rubbing the back of her head, and turned to her. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Devon nodded, finding it hard to form words as she realized just how very close they'd come to dying.

"Devon!" Danziger said, running up next to them. "Come on!" He grabbed Devon's arm and started to half-carry her towards the bluff. "Julia!"

Julia staggered to her feet and stumbled after them, and the three of them fell into the hollow space in the side of the bluff.

Suddenly, the pain in Devon's head spiked. She slapped at her gear again. "If you see a Terrier," she said, "it's our friend! Don't shoot him!"

But even as she said it, the Terrier was already there, standing over them and holding out a mag-pro with an elaborate scope attached to it.

Danziger looked up at the Terrier, then took the mag-pro from its hands, and the Terrier turned and pulled a small pouch from a pack on its back and handed that over as well.

"You got the sniper," Devon breathed, and nearly cried in relief when she felt the strong affirmation from the Terrier.

"Thank you," Julia said quietly, and Alonzo ran up.

"Hey, pal!" he said, patting the Terrier's flank and grinning at it, then he knelt next to Julia. "Are you okay?"

Julia nodded. "Are those the worm bullets?" she asked Danziger.

Danziger opened the pouch and looked in, then nodded. "But don't anybody break out the champagne yet," he growled. "There are still Council agents out there."

"Not for long," Devon said as the Terrier turned and galloped off. "I think our friend sees this as a personal challenge." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you think it's safe to let everyone come out now?"

Danziger hesitated, then nodded. "The chances of another sniper being in the group that hit us are pretty slim. And I doubt if there are more than three or four people in the entire CSF who had the kind of skills this guy had," he said, brandishing the mag-pro.

"Okay, everybody, you can come out," Devon said over the gear. "The sniper's not a threat anymore."

"How can you be so sure?" Hardy said over the gear.

"Because I'm holding his mag-pro right now," Danziger said. "Even if he's still alive, without his gun, I don't think he's much of a threat."

"He isn't alive," Julia said with cold certainty.

Alonzo nodded. "The Terrier killed him. Really killed him," he added emphatically.

"Good," Devon said harshly.

"I need to go check on Helen," Julia said, and Alonzo helped her to her feet. She shouldered the med kit she'd flung to the ground when she'd gotten to Helen, and headed for the tent Bill had taken Helen to.

Luckily, the injury wasn't serious. Julia gave Helen a dose of painblock, closed the wound and bandaged it, and told her not to do any heavy lifting for a few days.

Helen grinned tiredly. "Thanks, Julia."

"Yeah," Bill said, grabbing Julia's shoulder and squeezing it. "Thank you. That was crazy, what you did, but you saved Helen doing it."

Julia looked flustered.

"Relax," Helen said. "We won't make a big deal about it."

Julia smiled at that. "Thank you," she said, and made her escape.

She headed back over to the med tent and checked in on Morgan, who was still looking terrified.

"Is it safe to move him?" Bess said. "We'd both sleep better in our own bunks, and I hate to impose on you."

Julia hesitated, then ran a scan. "Okay," she said finally. "The wound seems to be healing well, and the swelling is going down. I'm betting you'll be starting to get some sensation back any time now."

"Are you sure?" Morgan said.

Julia smiled at him. "Yes, Morgan, I'm sure. Just be patient. You'll be walking again in a few days." She called in Rick and Rob to get Morgan on a stretcher and take him to his tent.

She was on her way back to the med tent when Hardy hobbled out in front of her on his crutches.

"Don't think for a minute that you have me fooled," he said.

"Give it a rest, Hardy," Rick said, coming up behind Julia.

"Did she tell you her little story about there being another spy?" Hardy said.

"Another spy?" Rob said, joining them. "What are you talking about?"

"Uh-oh," Danziger said, tapping Devon on the shoulder as they were headed for the mess tent with the kids. "I think we've got trouble."

Devon followed his gaze to see Julia facing Hardy, with a small but growing group of people around her. She groaned inwardly as she saw Valerie and Melanie join the group.

"Yale, would you take Tru and Uly to the mess tent?" Devon said quietly. Yale nodded and took Uly by the hand.

"I don't want to—" Tru began.

"Tru, please," Devon said. "I'm asking you to go, but I won't make you. This is going to get ugly, and I don't want you to have to see it."

Tru looked surprised, then nodded reluctantly and followed Yale away.

Devon glanced over at Danziger, who smiled crookedly at her. "Let's go rescue our doctor again," he said.

"I don't know what else to tell you," Julia was saying as they came up. "I've tr—"

"You can tell us who the other spy is!" Hardy snapped. "If there even is one."

Julia went white. "I don't know who the other spy is," she said desperately. "I swear, I don't know!"

"That's enough, Hardy," Devon said.

"I don't think so!" Hardy said. "Damn it, Adair, you're all so hung up on protecting Saint Julia. But she works for the Council! The same Council that guy out there trying to kill all of us works for!"

"And she lied to them about everything—where we were, how many of us survived, where we were going, all of it!" Melanie said. "Do you want to watch the VR?"

"So how do we know she's not lying to us now?" Sergei said, and Melanie whirled to look at him, shocked.

"Jesus, Sergei, she threw herself off a cliff!" Valerie said incredulously. "What else does she have to do?"

"I'm just saying, it seems to me that the Council benefits if we're all paranoid about one of us being a spy," Sergei said defensively.

"He's right," Hardy said. "This whole other spy thing could just be her trying to set us at each others' throats."

"Which is exactly why Julia and I were trying to keep this a secret," Devon said acidly. "As I already told you, Hardy. Come on, I'm not stupid. I didn't get the Eden Project this far by trusting people blindly, okay? Least of all people associated with the Council. I was as skeptical as anybody till I saw the VRs and saw what Julia did on that cliff." She paused, looking around the group. "That was enough to convince me. Julia did what she did to protect her mother and—"

"Oh, come on!" Hardy interrupted. "Her mother is a Council member! Do you really expect me to believe that the Council would really kill one of their own members?"

"If they're as ruthless as you keep saying they are? Absolutely!" Valerie said. "It would make perfect sense for them to threaten one of their own if she turned against them."

"And how do we know she turned against them?" Hardy persisted. "All we have is Julia's word that her mother warned her about the bomb. That could all be part of her plan to get us to buy her story about this fake spy! Same with that whole bullet thing!"

"Damn, Hardy, you're starting to sound like one of those conspiracy theory nutjobs," Danziger said. "You saw how close she came to getting blown up by that worm bullet. That was a helluva risk to take."

"So…there's another spy," Hardy said uncertainly. "And she knew it, so she was willing to die for the Council's agenda."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Valerie said. "First you say that there isn't another spy, that Julia's lying about it, and now you say there is, and that made her suicidal? You're not making any sense!"

Hardy went even redder. "I'm just trying to—"

"Stop it," Julia said.

"You're just trying to be a jackass!" Valerie interrupted. "And you're succeeding!"

"Valerie, you're not help—" Devon began.

"Stop it!" Julia shouted.

Valerie looked over at her, breathing hard, then nodded. Hardy looked rebelliously at her, but didn't say anything more.

"There's no way for me to prove anything," Julia said quietly. "I can't prove there's another spy, let alone who it is. I even could have faked the VRs, couldn't I?" She looked at Melanie, who looked stunned.

Several of the people around her looked surprised at the comment, including Hardy, and Devon mentally congratulated her for bringing it up before Hardy could. It completely defused that line of attack. And then Devon had a horrible thought. _What if she really __did__ fake the VRs?_ But the moment she thought it, she dismissed the thought. _Valerie's right_, she thought. _She threw herself off a cliff for us._

"I can't prove that my loyalties are to the Eden Project," Julia was saying. "Either you believe me or you don't. All I can do is try to earn your trust." She looked directly at Hardy. "And I will do whatever I can to do that. But in the meantime, I think we can all agree on one thing: we have to work together to get to New Pacifica, or we'll never make it."

Hardy looked at her for a long moment, then at the others in the group, and finally turned and started to hobble off on his crutches.

Julia glanced around the rest of the group, then turned and headed for the med tent, and Melanie ran after her.

"Hardy, could I talk to you alone for a moment?" Devon said, starting after him.

"Devon, don't go ballistic on him," Danziger murmured, leaning close.

"Why do I have to keep reminding people I'm not an idiot?" Devon said under her breath.

"I am so not answering that," Danziger said, grinning, and walked away. Devon had to resist the sudden impulse to stick her tongue out at him before she turned back to deal with Hardy.

"What?" Hardy said tersely.

"Look, I'm not going to ask you to trust Julia," Devon began.

"Good, 'cause that's not gonna happen," Hardy cut in.

Devon looked at him, her eyebrows raised, and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said. "Say what you have to say."

"Thank you," Devon said dryly. "I have more to lose here than just about anyone. This is my dream we're talking about, not to mention my son's life. And I take full responsibility for the lives of everyone in this group. There is nothing in the universe that I wouldn't do to protect each and every one of you. So you can't trust her? Fine. Trust me."

"What if you're wrong about her?" Hardy said.

"If Julia Heller ever does anything that puts any of us in danger," Devon said with a dangerous edge to her voice, "I will deal with it myself."

* * *

Julia leaned against the lab table in her tent, blinking back tears.

"Well, that was impressive," Melanie said, coming in behind her.

Julia breathed in through her nose, trying to get control of herself before she turned around.

"Hey," Melanie said, putting her hand on Julia's shoulder and leaning around to look at her. "Look at you! You're crying! That's wonderful!

Julia almost laughed. "Wonderful?"

"Yes, wonderful," Melanie said. "It means you're letting yourself be human for a change."

"It seems like that's all I can do these days," Julia said.

"And don't you feel better for doing it?" Melanie said.

Julia shook her head, fighting a fresh wave of tears.

"Oh, come on!" Melanie said, smiling. "Look at Tosh! She cries all the time, and she's just about the happiest person I've ever met. Quid pro quo."

"You mean Q.E.D.," Julia corrected without thinking.

"You say quod, I say quid," Melanie replied, hoping to get Julia out of her funk with some verbal tapdancing. "It's all Greek to me."

Julia smiled faintly, then sighed. "Nothing I do is ever going to be enough," she said.

"Then there's no reason for you to tie yourself in knots trying to do it all," Melanie said reasonably. "Just do your best, and let the Hardys of the world go to hell." That didn't seem to have any effect on Julia. "Look, if it's any consolation, Hardy didn't do himself any favors out there. I think there are a bunch of people who were on the fence who are starting to come over to your side because he was such a colossal dick."

"It's not much consolation. Especially not when he's right about so much of it," Julia said.

"Oh, come on, we're not going to wander off into Self-Pity Land again are we?" Melanie said. "It's a dark, ugly place, Julia. They have trolls there. Short, angry trolls."

Julia almost laughed at that. "Okay, no self-pity," she said. She wiped away the tears, then looked at Melanie for a long moment.

"What?" Melanie said, looking nervous.

"What would I do without you?" Julia said.

"Perish, I suppose," Melanie said archly. "So it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Late that night, Alonzo was standing on sentry duty when he heard another flurry of mag-pro shots far in the distance. He sent out a worried call to their Terrier friend, and soon after felt a wave of reassurance and confidence.

_Is that you, buddy?_ he thought into the darkness, and got an amused affirmative. _So what's the good news? Are all the agents dead?_ That got him an even stronger affirmative, with a strong dose of pride.

Alonzo breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a faint sound behind him, and he turned in surprise. It was Julia. "What are you doing out here?" he said. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I heard the shots," she said, and he could see the worry in her face in the moonlight.

"He's fine," Alonzo said. "Did you feel that just now? I think he got the last of them."

"For now," Julia said, not looking at all relieved.

"Hey," Alonzo said. "None of that. How many CSF agents can there be on this planet?"

"I wish I knew," Julia said. "I'd feel a lot better knowing what we're really up against."

Alonzo debated saying more on the subject, but decided he'd be better off trying to distract her. "How's Morgan?"

"Terrified," Julia said, smiling faintly. "He's starting to get sensation back in his legs, though, and the scans don't show any permanent damage. But try to convince him of that. You'd think both his legs had been cut off the way he's talking. I'm really glad I let Bess take him back to their tent."

Alonzo grinned. "How about the others?" he asked, wondering whether she'd want to talk about Hardy. He'd missed the confrontation, which was probably just as well. From what Melanie had told him, he'd probably have decked Hardy.

"Helen's injury wasn't serious, and Hardy's healing fine," Julia said tersely, looking out into the moonlight landscape beyond the little hollow in the bluff where Alonzo was standing. After a long moment, she looked over at Alonzo. "How are you?"

"Me?" Alonzo said, startled. "I'm fine."

"It's just…" Julia said, then hesitated. "Yesterday, in the mess tent, you seemed…strange."

Alonzo stiffened. "I was just worried," he said, then forced a smile. "Those bastards blew up my ATV, after all."

Julia looked skeptical, but nodded. "Danziger thinks he might be able to put it back together," she said. "But it's a little disturbing that they had explosives. They may be better equipped than I'd thought."

"Hey, don't worry," Alonzo said reassuringly. "Now that we took out this group, they're gonna have to hunt for us again. And it took them, what, two months to find us last time? And that was with a tracking device." And the moment he said it, he kicked himself. _Way to throw that in her face, Solace._

But Julia didn't seem fazed by the comment. "I know. I shouldn't be so nervous. But we got lucky this time. If that explosion that hit the ATV had been just a few meters one way or the other, we could have lost Inez or Yale, and maybe more. And we still have the spy to worry about." She frowned suddenly, as though that idea sparked a thought, then turned to look at Alonzo with a curious expression. "What do you know about the Inferno?"

Alonzo blinked. "You mean Melanie's firebomb?" he said, confused.

"No," Julia said, shaking her head. "Dante. '_Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate_.'"

Alonzo felt his blood run cold. _What the hell?_ he thought angrily. For a moment he tried to figure out if there was some innocent reason she'd be quoting that, but he quickly dismissed that thought as ridiculously coincidental. _But why doesn't she just come out and ask me?_

"Alonzo?" Julia asked, sounding worried.

"I don't know the quote," he said, and he couldn't keep the anger out of his voice.

Julia looked taken aback by his tone. She hesitated for a moment. "Did—did I say something wrong?" she said. "I didn't mean to—I mean, if this is about your mother—"

"No," he said, trying to control his voice better. "It's not. Listen, Heller, I'm on duty, so…" He trailed off, hoping she'd take the hint.

She did. "I'm sorry," she said. "If I—" She stopped, looking uncertain. "I'm sorry," she repeated, then turned and disappeared into the shadows under the bluff.

Alonzo turned back to look out at the rolling hills beyond the camp. _I wouldn't have pegged her as the passive-aggressive type_, he thought, seething. _But how did she find out? _Then he thought about her legendary memory and winced. _She must have heard something about it once, and Yale talking about worm bullets brought it back. Or maybe Yale has something about it in his database—hell, they probably have the whole thing on a recording someplace._ He almost wished the sniper was still out there so he could have a shot at him. _Damn you_, he thought, gripping his mag-pro so hard it hurt. _If you hadn't used those damned worm bullets, none of this would be happening!_

Julia slipped quietly back into the med tent and lay down on her bunk. She tried to get back to sleep, but all she could do was keep replaying that strange conversation with Alonzo. He hadn't called her Heller in what seemed like a long time, and it had stung. _What did I say?_ she thought, trying to think of how she could have offended him. _Maybe it's something about his mother_, she thought, but that didn't make any sense. He'd been more concerned about sparing her feelings when the subject had come up before.

_But what else could it have been?_ She ran through what she'd said. _He said it took them two months to find us, and that was with a tracking device. And then I said—_

She broke off the thought, her heart sinking as she suddenly realized exactly what she had said.

_No_, she told herself firmly. _It's something else. It __has__ to be_.

But she couldn't come up with anything else. And she couldn't get rid of the cold knot of fear in her stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 3

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews, LMXB and Nagging Cube and anonymous (I got reviewed by anonymous! I'm HUGE!). I'm working like crazy on this sucker (emphasis on crazy), hence the posting frenzy. That is changing soon—I have to work on making sure all the setup is in place in 4, 5 and 6 for chapters 7, 8 and 9. Aaaannnnnd, nobody really wants to know how the sausage gets made. Suffice it to say, the light-speed updating is going to downshift to sublight. But don't panic—I am almost finished, so this story will be completed. I promise.

* * *

It was still almost completely dark when he snuck out of the camp. He knew it was a risk waiting even that long, but it was the soonest he was sure he wouldn't be noticed. He ran up to the top of the hill to the east of the camp and looked back for an instant.

He couldn't stay. He knew that, without a doubt. They were wrong, so wrong he couldn't believe they didn't see it, didn't understand how the course they were taking was going to end in disaster. He'd tried everything he could to convince them, and finally had reached the conclusion that he had to take action.

So here he was. But now that he looked back at the camp, he found himself hesitating. This was his home. It was everything to him, and to leave it…

He forced the thought aside ruthlessly, made himself turn, and ran to the east, hoping he hadn't waited too long.

* * *

"Good morning," Devon said, sitting down next to Julia in the nearly deserted mess tent very early the morning after the confrontation with Hardy.

Julia looked up, startled out of her reverie. "Good morning," she said, and there must have been something in Devon's manner that made her wary, because she immediately said, "I know what you're thinking," she said.

"Really," Devon said dryly.

"I'm okay," Julia insisted. "What Hardy said was—"

"Ha," Devon interrupted. "I wasn't thinking about Hardy at all."

Julia looked nervous. "I wasn't trying to prove myself, with the worm bullet, if that's what you're thinking," Julia said, but Devon's steady, skeptical look forced her to backtrack. "Okay, that might have been part of it, but that really wasn't what I was thinking of most."

"Well, that's progress," Devon said, smiling. "At least you were thinking, though I can't say I'm thrilled with the results of that thought process."

"Devon, please," Julia said quietly.

"Sorry," Devon said, realizing that Julia was trying to say something important. "What were you thinking?" And, amazingly, she managed to keep even a hint of sarcasm from coming through her voice, just genuine curiosity.

Julia looked down at her bowl of synthofu for a moment, like she was trying to work up the courage to say what she wanted to say. "I haven't had very many friends in my life," she said, then, wryly, "Actually, I'm not sure I ever really had any. The closest I ever came was with Dr. Harrison and Jamie, but we were all so focused on the work, we never really got that close. But here…" she said, then trailed off, trying to find the words.

"It's pretty hard to avoid getting close, isn't it?" Devon said.

Julia smiled, and Devon was reminded again what a difference it made in her face. "There is that," she said. "Lord knows Melanie is impossible to resist. But it's more than just that. Honestly, I never wanted friends, at least not after the first few times I tried." She looked embarrassed. "That sounds so pathetic. It wasn't like I was unhappy. I'm pretty comfortable being on my own, and I thought that was enough. Until I got here, and there was Melanie, and you, and Danziger, and—"

She stopped, and Devon knew exactly whose name she'd been about to say. _But why does she look so worried?_ Devon thought uneasily.

"Well," Julia said, "I found out there are people who don't care who I was before, who my mother is, any of that."

_Too bad Hardy isn't one of them_, Devon thought, but she wasn't about to bring it up if Julia didn't.

"You all just treated me like a person—a person you liked," Julia continued, studying her synthofu intently, "and when I realized the bullet was in the middle of the camp, all I could think was that if it blew up, and any of you died…" She stopped, taking a deep breath, and she looked up at Devon seriously. "I don't think I could stand losing any of you."

Devon blinked hard, looking away for a moment. "Honestly, Julia, I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." Then she looked back and gave Julia a mock-severe glare. "But if you think that's going to get you off the hook for the crazy—"

"Why on earth would I think that?" Julia said sarcastically.

Devon smiled. "Seriously, though, I am grateful for what you did. But this goes both ways. How do you think it would be for any of us to lose you?" Julia considered that for a moment, and Devon could see a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. She sighed inwardly. _It's too bad that with all the stuff we lost in the crash, we couldn't lose the emotional baggage, too._

* * *

That day, since Julia insisted that they stay in camp until she was sure Morgan's spine was healing properly, Danziger took Rick and Bill out, and they found the Council agents. Yale had been right—there had been five whose bodies were still right outside the camp, and they had to have been hit during that initial attack.

It took a while to track down the remaining four. Two were in a gully a couple of kilometers to the southwest of the camp, both with arrows sticking out of their chests. They found the rails next—three of them, though one was in rough shape—with one of the agents dead nearby, an arrow sticking out of his eye.

They found the sniper on their way back to camp. His body was only a half a kilometer away from the camp, and it was in much worse condition than any of the others.

"I think our Terrier friend was a little pissed off at this one," Danziger said, studying the clearly trampled agent's battered corpse. "I wonder why?"

"My bet is he doesn't like those worm bullets," Bill said darkly, clearly remembering Helen being hit.

"Yeah," Rick said. "And I don't blame him."

Danziger shrugged and began the distasteful process of scavenging the agent's salvageable gear. They'd already buried the other eight, and with this, they had nine pairs of reasonably good boots, seven decent medium weight jackets (two had been too saturated with blood for any of them to feel comfortable keeping them), and a variety of equipment. Including six more mag-pros and two handguns, with additional ammunition for them.

But it was the rails that Danziger was most pleased about. The one was in bad enough condition he'd decided to use it for parts to keep the others maintained. He planned to pull its solar panel to use in repairing the ATV. The worst of the damage to that vehicle had come when it hit the bluff, and the panel shattered. The rest of it was in decent condition, surprisingly enough. But between the rails, the ATV and the Transrover, they could, in a pinch, get everyone on a wheeled vehicle. It wouldn't be fast, but there could be situations where that might be vital.

Rick grinned when he explained his plan for repairing the ATV. "Alonzo'll be happy. He loves that thing."

"Yeah, he's been moping around ever since it got blown up," Bill said.

Danziger grunted, but he knew better. Whatever was bugging Alonzo had less to do with the ATV than it did with Julia. But he didn't have a clue what it was really about. _Better not to know_, he told himself. _Leave the VR opera stuff to Devon and Mel._

* * *

Julia stopped in to check on Morgan that afternoon, and was pleased with his progress. He had regained full sensation in both his legs, though they still felt weak to him.

"When can I try walking?" he asked.

"Give it a couple of days at least," Julia said. "There's no sense in pushing yourself too fast. The spinal column is intact and shows only slight bruising now. But I'd rather be certain there isn't a weak spot in the vertebra there. We'll give the boneheal till tomorrow night to be sure any potential fracture points are solid, and see how the swelling is then."

Morgan sighed. "I hate being stuck in bed. It's humiliating having to have Bess do everything for me."

"I know," Bess said, patting his leg. "But you'll be up and around soon enough."

"As long as I'm here, Morgan, I wanted to talk to you about Yale," Julia said, glad of the chance to distract him from moping.

"I wondered when you'd ask," Morgan said with a hint of arrogance to his tone. "That thing is a walking time bomb."

"Morgan, don't exaggerate," Bess said.

"I am not exaggerating!" Morgan said indignantly. "The first sign of trouble with the Yale program was elevated ACTH levels. The hardware and programming was supposed to inhibit the normal organic memory processes—don't ask me how, I don't know. But sometimes those processes start to reassert themselves. The ACTH is the first warning of that. After that, those old memories can come back. With a vengeance. The cyborg's organic and mechanical systems start fighting each other, and it can cause…instability." Morgan made air quotes with his fingers as he said the last word.

"What kind of instability?" Julia said uneasily.

"The first one killed himself by ripping a power conduit out of a wall and sticking it against his head," Morgan said darkly.

Julia blanched.

"It gets worse," Morgan said. "Five of the twenty-two first generation Yales committed suicide. Another three went completely out of control. There were nine fatalities and three more serious injuries, not counting the Yales. One of them tried to crash a shuttle into Station One. Believe me, keeping that one quiet was a nightmare. But they were all bad—all three of the homicidal Yales had to be killed by the CSF, and all in front of witnesses. There was this old guy I thought the C—"

"What about the other fourteen?" Julia interrupted, though she dreaded the answer.

"I thought they'd all been recalled," Morgan said angrily. "They were in the process when I got promoted, so I never heard what happened to them after that. And I really didn't want to know."

"When did all this happen?" Julia asked.

"About five years ago," Morgan said. "They did a bunch of work on the second generation, using severely brain damaged people for that round, and it worked a lot better. That's why the cyborg program doesn't have the bad rep it ought to, because of the Cambridge model. That and all the work my team did cleaning up the mess of the first round."

Bess looked worriedly at Julia. "What should we do?"

Julia shook her head helplessly. "I have no idea. The ACTH levels were back down when I scanned him in the med tent, and they were the same in my scan this morning. Is it possible the explosion just caused a temporary glitch?"

Morgan frowned. "I wouldn't bet my life on it," he said darkly.

"Morgan, you don't know for certain that Yale's a threat," Julia said. "As far as we know, the majority of the Yales didn't become unstable."

"Besides, they wouldn't have left our Yale with Devon if they thought he was dangerous," Bess said.

Morgan looked at her patronizingly. "Bess, this is the Council we're talking about. The same Council that has tried—how many times is it now? Four?—to kill Devon Adair."

"So what's the next warning sign?" Julia said, trying not to think about how right he probably was.

"He'll have more blackouts, then he'll start to have flashbacks, either in dreams or awake. He'll be able to remember those," Morgan said.

"And then?" Julia persisted.

"Then kablooey, one way or the other," Morgan said.

"How long do you think we have, if he really is following that pattern?"

Morgan shook his head. "It varied a lot. It depends on what kind of person he was before they cyborged him. The ones that were worst were the ones who'd been homicidal before. But one of the ones who committed suicide had been in prison for manslaughter because he'd been flying a shuttle while drunk."

"Morgan, how long?" Julia insisted.

"The earliest one took about two months after the first recorded blackout. The longest took almost a year—that was the drunk guy."

Julia looked relieved.

"Hey, don't go assuming we have two months," Morgan said. "We don't know how long Yale might have been having blackouts."

"We'll just have to keep a close eye on him," Julia said. "I'll talk to Devon. She's around him the most, and she'll be able to tell us if he might have been showing signs earlier, and if he starts to get worse."

"That's it?" Morgan said, incredulous. "That's all you're going to do?"

"What else would you suggest?" Julia said tightly, knowing full well Morgan was thinking the unthinkable.

Morgan glanced uneasily at Bess, then said, "Well, I…uh…I don't know."

"Then let me know when you think of something," Julia said, and left the tent.

* * *

"Well, that's nice to see," Valerie said, coming up next to Melanie three days after they'd finally gotten back on the road.

Melanie looked up and followed Valerie's gaze to see Julia sitting by the fire, listening to Toshiko tell a story to Todd, a story which apparently required animated gestures, and Julia seemed amused, though she was clearly trying to hide it.

"Yeah," Melanie said, but she seemed troubled.

"What's wrong?" Valerie said, frowning. "Don't tell me Morgan's still insisting his toes are numb."

Melanie rolled her eyes. "No, I think Bess finally managed to convince him he's fine." She sighed, looking frustrated. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"The spy?" Valerie said.

Melanie nodded. "Yes, that, and the Council and whatever else they have planned for us. But it's more than that," she said. "You didn't see how she was after Hardy yelled at her the other day. I thought maybe she was starting to let herself open up, but then she went right back to deflectors on full. Hell, she's only over there by the fire because I threatened to sic Devon on her."

Valerie groaned. "Don't you think you ought to just let her handle things her way? Not everybody likes being social."

"It's not just for her," Melanie said insistently. "She has to repair the damage she did to her standing in the group."

Valerie sighed. "I guess you're right," she said. "But you're putting her out there where Hardy and whoever else might still be suspicious of her can have a shot at her."

"Why do you think I'm sitting over here?" Melanie said. "I plan to intercept anybody that looks like bad news. I want her to come out of her shell, but I don't want her to get stung so much she pulls completely back into it."

"Quite the mixed metaphor there, Mel," Alonzo said, coming up behind her.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Melanie said impatiently. "And you know who I'm talking about, too," she added, nodding pointedly towards Julia.

"Yeah," Alonzo said, and as he looked at Julia, he suddenly had that pensive look he'd been carrying around since the Council attack.

"Okay, 'Zo, what the hell is going on with you?" Melanie said.

"Nothing," he said, frowning.

Melanie gave him her most withering look.

"Come on, Solace, you've been acting really weird," Valerie said. "You haven't said a word to Julia for three days, and it seems like she's avoiding you, too."

"What did you do this time?" Melanie said.

"Me!?" Alonzo protested. "I didn't do a damned thing! It was—" He stopped, and Melanie looked at him closely.

"Come on, 'Zo, I know you. You've made living in the moment an art form. You get mad, and it blows over in ten minutes. What did she do that's got you so ticked off?"

"None of your damned business," Alonzo said sharply, and Valerie raised her eyebrows.

"You made it my business when you asked me to help you get together with her," Melanie said quietly. "I did that, against my better judgment, and I thought it was working out well for both of you."

"It was," Alonzo said, sounding slightly conciliatory. "But I don't know if it's a good idea."

Melanie groaned. "Come on, 'Zo! What do you have waiting for you back at the stations? I decided to stay on G-889 weeks ago, and it really wasn't that tough a decision."

"You're not going to go back with the ship?" Valerie said, and she looked pleased.

Melanie shrugged. "It's not like I have anything to go back to. Just the job, and this is way more fun and interesting than that ever was. Besides, I have Rob now, and there's no way I'm giving up that sexy geek."

Alonzo was staring at her like she'd grown a second head.

"What?" she said. "He is sexy, you just don't—"

"New Pacifica," he said. "I hadn't even thought of…"

Melanie blinked in surprise. "Wait, you weren't talking about taking off once we get to New Pacifica?" She frowned. "But…then…what were you—?" she started to say, but was interrupted by Rob coming up and trying to drag her off to mediate some dispute with Rick and Bill.

Alonzo took the opportunity to make his escape, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. _I'm such an idiot_, he thought, groaning inwardly as he headed for his bunk. But he knew it was because that was how he'd lived his life. Melanie was right—he always focused on what was right in front of him, never thinking ahead or behind, at least till now. He'd figured he was stuck on this planet for at least a year, so it didn't matter what was going to happen when that year was up. He'd just deal with it when the time came.

_Damn_, he thought suddenly, remembering the conversation he'd had all those weeks ago with Melanie. She'd told him he needed to figure out what he wanted before he went after Julia. _She was absolutely right_, he thought, shaking his head.

Somehow he knew that he couldn't have done anything differently. There was no way he was going to ride along with the Eden Project and just ignore the attraction he'd felt for Julia. It was impossible to ignore.

_But what now?_ Clearly, she was having second thoughts about him, or she'd never have brought up that quote. She was digging, trying to find out more about him, and it bothered him more than he wanted to admit to himself.

_Because you're ashamed of it_, the honest part of him said.

* * *

"Hey, Melanie," Julia said, ducking through the tent flap later that evening.

"Julia," Melanie said, barely looking up from her tablet.

Julia frowned slightly. There was something off in Melanie's manner, but she couldn't figure out what it might be. She sat down at her lab table and started to work testing the synthetic version of the plant extract Melanie and Helen had come up with that had saved her life. She'd used her work on the formula the day before as a way to keep Devon from grilling her any further, and she'd finally finished it. _But now what will I use as an excuse?_ she thought.

"Is it just me, or is there something up with Tosh and Todd?" Melanie said a few minutes later.

"What?" Julia said. "What do you mean?"

Melanie shrugged. "It's just it seems like she's spending a lot of time talking to him. What do you think?"

Julia blinked, surprised by the sudden introduction of the topic. "I have no idea," she said.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't," she said, grinning. "I forget sometimes that you don't do the gossip gathering most people do."

"Why would I, when you do it so very well?" Julia said dryly.

"Good point," Melanie said. "For example, I couldn't help but notice that Alonzo seems to be a little strange, and—"

"Melanie," Julia said warningly, "don't start."

"Hey, it's what I do!" Melanie protested. "And since he wouldn't tell me anything—"

"You asked him?" Julia said, frowning. She opened her mouth to say something more, hesitated, then plunged ahead. "What did he say?"

Melanie blinked in surprise. "Not much," she said tentatively. "I asked him what he did to screw things up, and he said it wasn't his fault." She looked intently at Julia. "Is he right?"

Julia looked troubled. "I don't know," she said. "I said something the other day that made him angry."

Melanie frowned. "What did you say?"

"That's just it," Julia said, a strange tension in her face. "I don't know what it was."

"That's really weird," Melanie said, perplexed. There was something Julia wasn't telling her. "It's not like him to stay mad for very long." She shook her head, then shrugged and grinned at Julia. "Then again, it's not like him to fall in love, either. We're in uncharted Alonzo Solace territory here, Jules."

Julia looked up sharply. "Wait, what did you say?"

"Oh, come on," Melanie said. "He may not have said it, but I've never seen him like this with anyone before. If it isn't love, there's some serious psychological funkiness going on there."

Julia looked almost sick, and Melanie frowned. _What the hell is going on with these two?_

Julia finally sighed again and shook her head. "I'm feeling pretty psychologically funky myself."

"Really?" Melanie said, looking astonished. "You mean it?"

Julia looked at her, and then must have realized what Melanie meant. She froze, wide-eyed, clearly trying to decide how to answer.

"Never mind," Melanie said, taking pity on her. "I'm not the one you need to say it to."

That didn't seem to help. Julia leaned over, putting her head in her hands.

"Don't worry about it," Melanie said gently. "It'll work out, at least as long as you still want it to." She paused. "You do, don't you?"

Julia didn't look up. "I don't know," she whispered.

* * *

Alonzo didn't get much sleep that night, so when the dawn finally started to break, he gave up trying and packed up his gear. He finished loading everything onto the trailer long before anyone else was awake, so he hopped into the newly-repaired ATV and headed southwest along the path Danziger had planned for him to scout with Artie.

He was glad they'd found some gloves in the last supply pod. The air had an icy bite to it, and even the slow pace of the ATV made the wind bitter cold. As he drove along, he noticed a fine edge of ice was coating almost everything, even the waving grass. _Great_, he thought grimly, _Julia was right. Winter is definitely coming._

And that thought wrenched him back to the reason he couldn't sleep. He knew as soon as Devon was up and around he'd be getting an earful from her for going out alone, but he needed more time to think before he had to face anyone. He had realized sometime in the night that for the second time in his very long life, he was at a crossroads. Whatever he did now would affect him for the rest of his life.

_I just hope whatever decision I make this time doesn't turn out as badly as last time_, he thought.

_I should just tell Julia everything_, he thought. _Tell her, and let her decide if she still wants to be with me._ He knew he was being grossly unfair to her over her interest in his past. It wasn't her fault he had skeletons in his closet, and it was only his guilty conscience that was making him angry at her.

_Not __only__ that_, the rebellious side of him argued. The only reason she could have for digging into his past was if she suspected him of being the spy. And that hurt more than he wanted to admit. He thought that they'd reached a level of trust, but maybe he was wrong.

But she could be doing the same thing with everyone in the camp. It's what he would do in her position—eliminate all the suspects you could, do everything possible to find out who the real spy is so they could all go back to trusting each other. _That doesn't mean I have to like it_, he thought angrily.

_All the more reason to tell her everything. If you want her to trust you, you have to trust her with the truth._ But there was no guarantee that would convince her he was innocent. Even though there wasn't a shred of evidence that could implicate him as the spy, the absence of evidence wasn't proof of innocence. And his past was an ugly kind of circumstantial evidence anyway, at least on the surface.

_Damn it_, he thought angrily. _I thought I was over it, but now it's just like it was when they pulled me out_. He'd had the nightmares again, all night long: images of the dropship exploding around him, only in the dreams he could actually hear the screams of the women and children he couldn't save, and then Biko was there, looming over him in his skinsuit, his mirrored visor hiding his face, accusing him as the shattered pieces of the dropship fell around them.

He wrenched his mind away from those memories, swallowing back a wave of nausea. _How can I possibly explain any of that to Julia, especially if she's heard the recordings? They make me look like a Council true believer!_

_Besides, even if I do tell her, and I do somehow convince her that I'm not the spy, what if she decides __does__ still want me?_ He considered that for a long moment. _Maybe it won't matter. There are a million things that could happen before we get to New Pacifica. _They'd already had their share of close calls, and were likely to have more. And even if they survived, it was entirely possible that the relationship with Julia might have run its course.

But even as he thought it, he knew it wouldn't, at least not for him. If they both made it that far safely, he was still going to have to make the choice.

_And I have to make it now_, he thought. It would be the height of cruelty for him to abandon her in New Pacifica if he let things go where he really wanted them to now. There was no way she'd consider returning to the stations, even if it were safe, which it wouldn't be. The Council had a very long memory, something he knew from experience.

But he couldn't possibly commit to her unless he could convince her he wasn't the spy. It all circled back to that. An expression of undying love would just look like a desperate attempt to win her over.

An hour later, he sighed explosively. He'd run through all of it at least a dozen times as he drove, barely aware of his surroundings, and was still no closer to an answer.

_You're looking at this all wrong_, he told himself. _If you take the whole spy thing out of the equation, what do you want to do? After all, what does it matter what she thinks of you if you're going to leave the first chance you get?_

But he knew it mattered a lot. _And maybe that's the answer_, he thought, but before he could consider that, he felt a sudden wave of fear. It wasn't strong, but it was definitely coming from someplace outside of him.

Alonzo slowed the ATV, looking around and cursing his luck. _Of __course__ I'd run into a Terrier_, he thought, wondering if this was their friend. If it wasn't, he could be in big trouble. _Hell, it's trouble either way_, he thought, feeling another wave of fear and trying not to think about what could scare their six-legged benefactor. _Devon's going to be furious with me_. He brought the ATV to a halt and scanned the horizon with the monoculars.

There was nothing to the east or south, but he couldn't see past the low hill running west of him. He hesitated, then drove the ATV slowly towards where the hill tapered down to meet the broad plain to his south.

As he approached the end of the hill, he felt the fear growing, pulsing at him with increasing intensity. It was getting harder to think through it. _Whatever is going on, there is one terrified Terrier out there._

He pulled the ATV to a stop again before he got to the end of the hill and grabbed the mag-pro from where he'd stowed it. As he turned back, flipping the power on, he was hit by a tidal wave of overwhelming fear and pain. He leaned forward, cradling his head in his hands, gasping for air and trying to find some way to hold off the torrent of emotion.

He dimly heard galloping, and tried to raise his head. Suddenly, the pressure let up. He looked up, and found a Terrier standing in front of him, and as he looked at it, he knew this was the Terrier that had helped them. Its torso was tilted awkwardly to one side, and Alonzo realized there was an arrowhead sticking out of its torso just below its left shoulder.

It looked hard at him for a moment, then gestured wildly to the north with its good arm, and immediately galloped off in that direction.

Alonzo didn't hesitate. Whatever it was running from—and given the arrow, it must be other Terriers—he didn't want to run into them. He spun the ATV in a tight circle, keeping the mag-pro in his lap and powered on, and floored it, following the injured Terrier.

He slapped at his gear to open a channel. "Eden Project, this is Alonzo!" he shouted. "Anybody awake back there?"

"Yeah," came Melanie's voice, but she sounded sleepy. "Where are you, 'Zo?"

"About twelve k southwest of you," he said. "I'm headed back, but we have a problem. I have an injured Terrier with me, and I'm pretty sure that the Terriers that shot it are right behind us. Get everybody up and ready for a fight."

"Alonzo, it's Devon," she said, cutting off Melanie's surprised reply. "Are you okay?"

"So far," he said. "I haven't actually seen the other—" He broke off, hit by a muted wave of fear and worry from the Terrier. Clearly it was trying not to hit Alonzo with it, but it couldn't seem to avoid it when it turned to glance back over its shoulder.

Alonzo did the same, and felt his own fears double as he saw at least six Terriers coming around the end of the hill.

"Alonzo?" Devon said. "What happened?"

"Sorry," he said. "I just saw what's after us. A half-dozen Terriers. And they're gaining on us." The injured Terrier had turned back to look ahead, but it was clearly flagging, and Alonzo didn't know how much longer it could keep going at this pace. "Listen, I think we're gonna need backup."

"Can you make it back here?" Devon said.

"No, not before they catch up with us," Alonzo said. And he knew there was no way in hell he would abandon the injured Terrier, not after all it had done for them.

Devon sighed. "Okay, we'll send help. You said there are six of them?"

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks. I'm gonna try to find someplace where we can hold them off. I'll let you know when I do." He hesitated, then swore under his breath. "And send Julia with the cavalry—I think our little buddy's gonna need her help."

"I don't know, Alonzo," Devon said uneasily.

"Devon, I don't think we're going to get this Terrier back to her alive, not at the rate things are going. He needs our help. And we owe him." _And the way my luck is going, I probably will, too_, he thought, but he didn't say it.

"Oh!" Devon said. "Are you sure it's him?"

"Absolutely," Alonzo said.

"Then we'll be there with Julia as fast as we can. Heck, she's better with a mag-pro than I am anyway."

"Hurry," Alonzo said. "I don't think we have a lot of time." The Terrier ahead of him was slowing even more, and its gait seemed unsteady. _Help is coming_, he thought at it as he closed the channel with Devon. _Just keep going till we can find some cover, okay?_

It glanced back at him, its enormous eyes looking even bigger than normal, but it waggled its antennae-horns at him. _I hope that means yes_, he thought, and immediately got a wave of approval from it.

They continued running for another kilometer, and Alonzo had to force himself to stop looking back at the other Terriers and keep his eyes open for any kind of cover.

Suddenly the injured Terrier turned, and Alonzo saw a little draw off to the west of them. The Terrier put on a sudden burst of speed, and Alonzo had to floor the ATV to keep up. The terrain got rough fast as they headed up the narrow draw, and Alonzo finally had to stop the ATV. He scrambled out, holding the mag-pro ready, and sprinted after the Terrier, hoping they could find someplace defensible fast.

* * *

"I'm going with you," Melanie said, grabbing a second med kit.

Julia hesitated, looking at her uneasily, then nodded. _If the Terrier's already hurt, it's going to be hard enough to treat. If Alonzo's hurt, too—_ She broke off the thought ruthlessly, refusing to let herself think about him. She grabbed the small case with the vials of liquid she'd synthesized from Melanie and Helen's extract.

Melanie noticed. "You think you'll need that?" she said.

Julia shrugged. "I have no idea what I'm getting into treating a Terrier," she said. "But at the very least, this is a native extract—well, a close enough synthetic, anyway. I don't dare use most of the medications I have, but this one might help."

Melanie nodded. "Good idea. At least it won't hurt to try it."

_It could_, Julia thought uneasily. _But it's a little less likely to than anything else I've got._

"Julia, we're ready," Devon said over the gear.

"We're on our way," Julia said, shoving the case into the med kit and heading for the tent flap.

"We?" Devon said as they came up.

"I need her," Julia said, climbing into the rail behind Danziger.

Devon looked for a moment like she wanted to protest, but relented. "Okay, let's go," she said, getting into the rail next to Danziger after Melanie got in.

Danziger started the rail, and Rick pulled the other rail in behind them, with Bill, Rob and Todd in the rail with him.

* * *

"Yale, can I go find Tru and see if she wants to play in VR for a while?" Uly asked Yale.

Yale hesitated, then smiled. "Very well. But only for an hour, and stay in the Transrover. By eleven hundred, I want you back in this tent ready to go over your last math test."

Uly grinned. He knew he'd aced it, which just gave him more ammunition against Tru the next time she teased him. "You got it."

Yale watched him leave, frowning. He blinked rapidly, and he felt suddenly dizzy. He sat down on his bunk and started to reach for his gear to call Julia, then remembered they'd left.

And then he was somewhere else. It was a small ship, and he was seated, with several men sitting across from him. Someone was speaking in his ear. "C'mon, if you're gonna quote Dante, do it right," the voice said, and it was a familiar voice.

Yale blinked again, and he was back in his tent, breathing hard, his heart pounding. And he was angry, so angry he wanted to hit something.

_What is happening to me?_ he thought, deeply afraid.

* * *

Alonzo scrambled up the gully after the Terrier, and finally caught up to it when it nearly collapsed as it got to the other side of a few small rocks that didn't look like they'd give much cover to Tru, let alone a full-sized Terrier.

But as he knelt next to the Terrier, he knew this was the best they'd be able to do. There was a lot of blood matting the fur on its chest, and as Alonzo looked closely at it, he realized he'd never really thought about what color a Terrier's blood would be, or even whether it would have blood.

_I guess I shouldn't be too surprised it's red_, he thought, _given the oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere_. But it gave him a strange sense of kinship with the otherwise very strange creature.

"Hang in there, little buddy," he said, patting its shoulder. He turned and braced his mag-pro on the rocks, waiting for the other Terriers to catch up. He tapped his gear. "Hey, Devon, what's your ETA?"

"We're on our way now," she said immediately. "How close are you?"

Alonzo relayed his coordinates.

"You're gonna have to hold on for a while," Danziger said. "Sorry, but we're at least forty minutes away."

"Don't worry about it," Alonzo said. "Hey, Heller, you there?"

"Yes," she said tersely, and Melanie frowned. _When did he start calling her Heller again?_ "How is the Terrier?"

"Not so good," he said, glancing down at the creature. Its eyes were closed, but its chest was still rising and falling. "I think it's still breathing, but it hasn't given me any sense it's conscious since we stopped running. What should I do about the arrow?"

"Nothing," Julia said. "Until I can get there and evaluate its condition, we're better off leaving it in place. Removing it could cause more damage."

"Okay," Alonzo said.

"If it wakes up, try to keep it that way. Keep it still, and keep it warm, if you can," Julia said.

"Not much I can do on that front," Alonzo said, but he shrugged off his jacket and placed it over as much of the Terrier as he could. He shivered in the early morning cold.

"What about the other Terriers?" Devon said.

"They should be showing up any time now," Alonzo said, "unless we lost them. But given my luck lately, I wouldn't count on that."

"Be careful, Alonzo," Devon said. "If it looks like you can't—"

"Don't even go there, Devon," Alonzo said. "We'll be fine, you'll get here soon, and it'll all be okay." He closed the channel before Devon could finish her thought, and turned his attention back to where he expected to see the Terriers approaching.

He could still see the roll bar of the ATV far down the gully, only slightly obscured by the brush. He figured the Terriers were likely to come across that, then start searching for them.

But he hadn't counted on the fact that they could sense emotions. He had no idea the Terrier had snuck up on them from the south until his Terrier friend grabbed him and yanked him hard enough he landed on the far side of the Terrier. He rolled to his knees and saw the arrow hit right where he'd been kneeling. He raised the mag-pro and fired wildly, somehow managing to hit the Terrier who had tried to kill him, and it reared back, grabbing at its left arm, then spun and galloped back up the hill and out of sight.

"Thanks, pal," Alonzo breathed. "You okay?"

That received a weak negative, and the Terrier leaned its head against the rock.

"Hang in there," Alonzo said. "Can you tell if there are others nearby?"

That got an affirmative, and he felt the other Terriers approaching. "Okay, then, the best defense…" Alonzo said, and started firing into the trees in the general direction he had sensed them.

_Forty minutes might as well be a lifetime_, Alonzo thought, wondering how long he could possibly hope to hold them off, then he decided that however long it was, he'd find a way to make it long enough.

He felt a strong wave of gratitude and surprise from the Terrier.

"Don't worry about it," Alonzo said in between shots. "You already did the same for us. I'm just trying to even the score." An arrow whistled over his head, and he turned and fired at the area it had come from, and his Terrier friend sent him an echo of pain and fear. "Cool," he said. "Two hit, four to go."

He got a sense from the Terrier that the others were pulling back for the moment, and he decided to save his ammunition. "Hey, listen, I can't keep calling you 'pal' and 'buddy'," he said to the Terrier. "Do you have a name?"

Alonzo felt a strange sensation, a combination of the smell of ozone and a blue-gray color with a strong dose of pride and confidence. "Wow, that's your name?" he said, impressed. "Mine means 'ready for battle,' and right now I really wish I felt like I was." He kept his eyes on the trees, watching for movement. "I hope you don't mind, but I kinda need to give you a name I can actually say out loud, so my friends and I can talk about you." He paused for a moment, thinking, then said, "How about Jupiter? He's a god of storms and the sky." He remembered an image from one of his mythology textbooks showing Jupiter/Zeus coming out of a storm cloud, flinging lightning bolts. "And I think you'd like his ego—it's about as big as the planet they named after him."

He got a faint sense of amusement from the Terrier, then a brief warning sensation, then nothing. Alonzo started to glance down at Jupiter, but he saw movement in the trees and started firing again. "Hang on, Jupiter. Just hang on a little longer." But there was no response.

* * *

"How close are we?" Devon asked.

"Another three k," Danziger said tersely. "Ten minutes, maybe a little less if we're lucky."

Devon's lips tightened, but she didn't say anything more.

Melanie glanced at Julia. She hadn't said a word in the last twenty minutes. She had pulled her pad out and was studying it intently. There was a discernible tension in her face.

"What are you looking at?" Melanie asked quietly.

Julia glanced up at her. "I'm looking at the scans I took of the hexadents and the other creatures we've seen. I'd done a little work trying to figure out the native physiology. I have a feeling I'm going to have to put some of that work into practice today."

"Should I take a look, too?" Melanie said tentatively.

Julia shook her head. "Actually, Mel, I'm really hoping your services aren't needed at all."

Melanie instantly realized what she was saying. "He'll be fine," Melanie said with as much reassurance as she could manage in her voice.

Julia nodded, but Melanie got the distinct impression that she wasn't just worried about Alonzo's well-being. "Thanks. But if it does come to that, I am going to have to let you take care of A—" She stopped short, frowning. "—of Solace," she continued after a momentary pause, her voice sounding as expressionless as her face was. "And Devon, I need you to be ready for anything. I know when Valerie connected with a dying Terrier, it was…bad. You need to be careful. I'm hoping you've had enough contact now to be able to manage it better than she did, but I just don't know for sure."

"Okay," Devon said uneasily.

"I'm going to ask you to take on the job of reassuring it if Solace can't," Julia continued. "Anything we can do for it could help, but I can't risk trying to do anything to help it that way if I'm going to treat its injuries. But remember, your health is more important, so if it gets bad and you can pull out on your own, don't hesitate."

"I understand," Devon said.

Julia went back to studying the scans, and Melanie sent out a silent plea to the universe that her limited knowledge would be enough to save the Terrier. And that the Terrier would be their only concern. And that whatever was going on between Alonzo and Julia, they'd have the chance to work it out. _That's not asking so much, is it?_

* * *

Over the next half an hour, Alonzo took several shots at what he thought might be Terriers approaching, but without Jupiter to give him any indication of where the Terriers were or if he'd hit them, he had little success.

Jupiter hadn't moved for the last fifteen minutes, and Alonzo was really beginning to worry. He'd tried several times to wake the Terrier, but he'd gotten no response, not even a hint of empathic connection.

Alonzo froze as he heard a rustling in the brush just downhill from their pile of rocks. He couldn't see anything, but he went ahead and took the shot anyway. An instant later, an arrow whizzed past his head, and he ducked frantically behind the rocks again.

"Man, this sucks," he muttered. "C'mon, Danziger, where the hell are you guys?"

He heard the rustling again, and took a chance on poking his head above the rock to see if he could spot anything. A branch shook in a small stand of stubby trees, but whatever was down there, it wasn't giving him much to shoot at. And Alonzo was getting nervous about how long his ammunition would hold out. He was surprised the Terriers hadn't just rushed him, but he wasn't about to complain about it. _Maybe the fact that I actually hit a couple of them already has them spooked_, he thought. But he didn't think that would last much longer.

"Jupiter, you gotta wake up," he said. "I really need your help."

There was no response.

Alonzo swore silently and checked his ammo count for the tenth time. As he did, he caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. He whirled in time to see the Terrier come out of the brush just uphill. He got the shot off, hitting it dead center, and it collapsed and tumbled bonelessly down the hill, but he didn't get a chance to celebrate.

The arrow had hit just above his knee, in the same leg he'd broken in the crash. For a moment, he stared at it sticking out of the side of his leg, long enough to think, _Shouldn't that hurt?_ And then it did.

"Aw, hell," Alonzo swore through gritted teeth as he fell back against the rocks, dropping the mag-pro and clutching at his leg.

Another Terrier came up around the rocks and studied him. Alonzo gasped for air and leaned forward to reach for the mag-pro. But apparently another Terrier had come up behind him. Alonzo felt the blow to the back of his head as he heard someone scream, "No!" somewhere down the hill. He fell forward over Jupiter, trying to remain conscious, and he heard a flurry of mag-pro shots.

"I got him, Jules," Alonzo heard Melanie say, and he saw someone's boots come to a stop just in front of him, and then felt hands lifting him away from Jupiter. He tried to say something, but he couldn't make the words come out.

He saw Julia kneel next to Jupiter, and then she glanced for an instant at him, and he felt something echo through Jupiter, but then it shut down. And the expression on Julia's face shut down just as hard.

_Oh, god_, he thought, recognizing at least part of what he'd felt. _She…she really __does__ believe I'm the spy…_ He had a moment to feel angry, but then he felt nothing as darkness engulfed him.

* * *

Devon came up as Danziger fired off orders to the others to make sure the Terriers were really running. She watched as Julia knelt beside the injured Terrier next to Alonzo, who looked like he was barely clinging to consciousness.

For an instant, Julia started to reach out to touch Alonzo's leg, but she clenched her hand into a fist and turned to look at the Terrier. As she did, Devon felt a sudden wave of fear, suspicion and guilt wash over her. There was something else behind all that, something strong, but as soon as Devon started to try to figure out what it was, it all shut down with an almost painful jolt, like an airlock slamming shut.

"Easy, Adair," Danziger said, grabbing her shoulder as she swayed. "You okay?"

Julia looked up at her. "Devon?"

Devon stared at her for a moment. _That was __her_, she thought suddenly. _I felt Julia. But what…?_ "I—I'm fine," Devon said, trying not to let her thoughts show. She nodded at the Terrier. "I'm just not used to…that…yet. I don't think he knew he was doing it."

Julia frowned. "But I didn't feel—" she began, then stopped abruptly, looking searchingly at Devon. "Never mind," she said after a long moment, and a look of resignation crossed her face. She turned to scan the Terrier.

Devon glanced over at Melanie, who was looking relieved at her scan of Alonzo. "It's okay, Jules," she said. "He bonked his head, which is why he passed out. He should come around any time now. The leg's really not that bad. I can even handle it by myself."

Devon sighed in relief.

"Rick, d'you see anything?" Danziger said quietly into his gear.

"All clear from up here," Rick's voice came over the gear. "Looks like we scared 'em off, at least for now."

"Don't anybody start counting chickens," Danziger growled.

"Don't worry, Danziger," Todd said. "I'm not even counting eggs yet."

Devon watched as Julia studied the scans of the Terrier. "How does it look?" she asked the doctor, in spite of her best efforts not to hover.

Julia glanced up again, and shook her head. "I can't be certain, but I don't think the wound itself is life-threatening. He—it—lost some blood, and I don't know how much these creatures can afford to lose. But the arrow doesn't look like it hit any major organs. Or at least not anything I think is major." She bit her lip for a moment, then turned and started rummaging in her medkit. She pulled out a small case, then looked up at Devon. "I'm going to need your help," she said.

"Me?" Devon said, and winced at how high-pitched her voice came out.

"All I need is for you to make sure that he—it—"

"Oh, hell, just call him a he," Melanie said. "Anything that big is a guy until proven otherwise."

Julia smiled faintly. "Okay, I need you to make sure he doesn't move once I start cutting," Julia said grimly. "I don't think he's likely to wake up, but…"

Devon took a deep breath. "I'll do my best."

"Can you feel him?" Julia asked as Devon knelt near the Terrier's head.

Devon shrugged. "I know I felt something a minute ago, but I don't know if it was him, or—" Devon stopped, not wanting Julia to know who she thought she'd felt.

"Or an echo from somebody else," Julia finished for her, and Devon winced inwardly. _So much for keeping that from her_, she thought, chagrined, but Julia had already turned back to look at her diaglove.

"Well, just in case," Julia continued as she studied the readout, "try to think reassuring thoughts."

Devon snorted. "Yeah, sure," she said. "Shiny, happy thoughts are my specialty."

Devon was fairly certain her thoughts couldn't have been very shiny by the time Julia had finished removing the arrow. She had gotten several jolts of fear and pain from the Terrier during the process, and she'd tried to reassure it, but by the end, she was just praying for Julia to finish fast.

"Okay," Julia said, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes with the back of her bloody hand. "I think I've done all I can, at least for now."

"Danziger, we've got company!" Todd said over the gear, sounding worried.

"How much company?" Danziger said, powering up his mag-pro.

"Too much—I think there have to be at least a dozen of 'em coming up the hill toward us from the west," Todd said.

Danziger swore under his breath. He glanced over at Julia. "Can we move him?"

Julia hesitated, looking down at the unconscious Terrier. She looked back up at Danziger and shrugged helplessly. "Do we have a choice?"

"Wait," Devon said, suddenly sensing something.

Julia looked sharply at her, then turned to look up towards where Todd was stationed at the top of the ridge. "Danziger, tell them to hold their fire," she said.

"Huh?" Danziger said.

"She's right," Devon said. "I don't think these are the bad guys."

"Todd, did you hear that?" Danziger said.

"Yeah," Todd said uneasily. "What do we do, though? Just let them come through?"

Danziger looked over at Devon, who shrugged. "Like Julia said, do we have a choice?"

Danziger didn't look happy about it, but he lowered his mag-pro. "Everybody, lower your weapons. And think friendly thoughts, just in case."

"Six is my favorite number," Melanie muttered from where she was finishing up closing Alonzo's wound. "I think antennae-horns are the best thing since inertial dampers. I wish I had a claw for a thumb."

Moments later, the first of the new group of Terriers came into sight at the top of the ridge.

Julia leaned protectively over the Terrier as they approached, but they all had their hands clear of their weapons, and the one at the forefront held his hands out to the side in the familiar greeting.

Devon held her hands out in a mirror image. "This…uh…person has been shot," she said, gesturing down at the Terrier. "We've been trying to help, but if you have a doctor…"

The leader looked back over his shoulder, and another Terrier trotted up and knelt carefully next to the fallen Terrier.

"I removed the arrow," Julia said, showing the bloody projectile to him. "I think I repaired most of the major damage, but I can't be certain."

The Terrier leaned close to the wound, studying it closely, then closed its eyes and leaned close to the fallen Terrier's head.

"Hey," Alonzo croaked, weakly raising his head, "don't—don't let him hurt Jupiter!"

"It's okay," Melanie said. "He's one of the good guys."

"Oh," Alonzo said, and let his head fall back. "Good."

"Jupiter?" Devon said.

Alonzo blinked groggily at her. "I had to call him something. You can't pronounce their real names."

Devon blinked in surprise, then looked at the Terrier leaning over Jupiter. "What's yours?" she asked curiously.

The Terrier glanced up at her, and Devon felt a sudden burst of sunny warmth with a strong scent of fresh rain on bare rock.

"Petrachor," Alonzo said, clearly fighting to stay awake. "Smell of rain…on rock. Cool name." He closed his eyes for a moment, then frowned and opened them again. "How's Jupiter?"

Julia started to answer, but the Terrier healer reached out and patted her shoulder. Devon felt its reassurance and approval, and smiled. "Attagirl, Julia."

The Terrier reached into a pouch slung over its shoulder and pulled out a small rolled-up skin. He opened it, and took out a small bunch of dried up leaves. He pulled out a small stone with a hollow in it and started to grind the leaves into dust with a little wooden spoon.

"Wait," Julia said, leaning over to scan the leaves. "I think I might have something better than that." She pulled out a vial from a case in her med-kit and showed it to the Terrier. "Those are from the same plant this came from," she said. "We found this extract helps to kill infectious agents here. Is that what you use the plant for?"

The Terrier's eyes widened, and Devon was relieved to find the expression matched what she expected—the creature was surprised. He took the vial from Julia, studying it curiously, and she opened it for him. He touched one finger to the opening, then put the finger to what had to be its mouth, part of the way down its neck. Its eyes widened even more, and the pleasure and admiration it broadcast were powerful.

"How do you use the leaves?" Julia asked. "Topically?" She gestured with her hand towards the leaves and then patted her arm. "Or do you ingest them?" She hesitated, then gestured toward the Terrier's oddly-placed mouth.

The Terrier patted his arm the same way Julia had hers.

"Is it safe for you to ingest?" she asked.

The Terrier affirmed that, then gestured at Jupiter's wound and sent a mild negation.

"But in the case of an injury like this, topical is more effective," Julia said, nodding. "That makes sense."

The Terrier gestured at the leaves, then at the vial, and sent a questioning sensation, with an odd feeling of hollowness that Devon couldn't really identify at first.

Julia couldn't either, apparently, because she blinked, frowning. But then she looked like she got it. "How much?" she asked, and got a vague sense of approval. "The amount of fluid in the vial is roughly equivalent to the fluid you'd get from…" She hesitated, thinking hard. "Maybe…" She held out her hands about twenty centimeters apart. "This many leaves?"

This time there was no mistaking the shock and disbelief from the Terrier. It glanced back at the group of Terriers behind it, then back at Julia.

"We have a machine," Julia said, and Devon wondered how on earth she was going to convey what that was, but apparently the Terriers must have some mechanical devices beyond the crossbows they carried, because that got a sensation of curiosity. "It allows us to make this without having to gather the leaves."

There was a flurry of emotions flying back and forth among the Terriers, too fast for Devon to follow, but there was one overarching feeling—excitement.

"I take it this would be useful for you?" Devon asked, and that got a strong affirmation.

"I'm happy to give you all I have with me," Julia said, pulling out the case and handing it to the Terrier. She showed him how to open it, and demonstrated opening the vial again. He opened and closed a vial, then tucked it back into the case and closed it. He sent a questioning sensation, holding the case out to Julia as though to give it back.

"No," Julia said, pushing it towards him. "Really, I can make more."

That brought another sense of wonder, but then the Terrier became all business. Within minutes, he'd bound up Jupiter's wound, applying a tiny amount of Julia's extract in the process, and then four of the Terriers lifted the injured Jupiter and started walking away.

"Wait," Julia said. "Could you let us know he's okay?"

That brought a sense of reassurance, and Julia nodded her thanks. They watched the procession of Terriers walk slowly away, and then Julia turned back to look at Alonzo. He'd faded out again, and Julia forced herself not to relive the moment she'd seen the blow to the back of his head.

"He's okay, Julia," Melanie said. "He's going to be just fine. See?" She showed the scan results, and Julia tried not to study them for too long.

"Thank you, Melanie," she said. "Good work."

* * *

Uly kicked savagely at a rock as he headed back to his tent, imagining it as Tru's knee. _Why does she have to be so stupid?_ he thought. They'd been having fun, and then all of a sudden she was pulling out of VR and telling him to get out of the Transrover. And he had no idea what he'd done or said to make her react like that.

_It probably doesn't even matter what it was_, he thought darkly. _There's always going to be something with her_.

But now he had to go back to his tent, which meant an extra half hour of class with Yale. He was behind in history, or so Yale insisted, and he knew Yale would use the extra time for that. Uly groaned inwardly.

Yale was coming out of their tent as Uly came up, and for a moment, Uly hoped that if Yale didn't see him, maybe he'd go off to do whatever he was going to do, and Uly could just hang out in the tent for a while. But even as he thought it, Yale turned to look at him.

And froze. Yale literally stopped moving entirely, his face caught in an expression of surprise and shock, his eyes staring unblinkingly at nothing.

"Yale?" Uly said tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Whatever had just happened, though, it was over. Yale was looking at him, blinking hard, and he looked nervous. "Ulysses?" he said. "You are back…early. Is something wrong?"

Uly hesitated, frowning. "No, Tru's just being…Tru," he said.

"I see," Yale said, and he turned back to go into the tent.

"You don't have to stop doing whatever you were going to do," Uly said hopefully, following him in. "I'll be fine here. By myself."

Yale turned to look at him, and Uly shrank back at the almost angry look in his eyes, but again, it was gone in an instant. "That is quite all right," Yale said, but his voice was shaky. "It…it can wait. Why don't we start with your math test?"

Uly sighed, resigned to his fate.


	4. Chapter 4

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 4

* * *

_A/N: Nagging Cube, you should know better. The chances of those two talking to each other any time soon are about as good as my chances were of not posting something today. ;-) And yet, in today's installment, they actually do talk. Just not the way you'd like._

* * *

Alonzo was out cold the whole way back, and Julia had barely spoken two words to any of them. Once she'd handed Jupiter off to the Terriers, her entire focus shifted to Alonzo, but she seemed on edge.

"I don't think that scan is going to tell you anything different from the one you did ten minutes ago," Melanie said an hour after they got back to the camp.

"I know," she said tersely.

"Listen," Melanie said, and tried to think of something to distract her. "I've been thinking. We need to come up with a name for the stuff you got out of that plant. How about 'terricillin'?"

Julia looked at her, impressed. "That's actually a pretty good name," she said.

"Don't sound so surprised," Melanie huffed. "I have a lot of good ideas."

Julia smiled, but the smile faded as she turned back to look at Alonzo.

"Hey, he's fine," Melanie said. "He got clocked pretty hard, but he's got a thick skull." She flicked his head with one finger. "See?"

Julia barely smiled at that. "First do no harm, remember?" she said.

"Look, why don't you go over to the mess tent and grab us something to eat?" Melanie said. "Take your mind off things for a little bit."

"I'm not hungry," Julia said.

"Don't tell me you're worried he's going to wake up and decide he's really in love with me and not you?" Melanie said, grinning. "Trust me, it'd take more than a bonk on the head for that to happen."

"He's not in love with me," Julia said quietly.

"Of course he is," Melanie said incredulously, almost grabbing for a stimulant so she could make Alonzo say it immediately.

"Don't say that," Julia said. "It's better if he doesn't."

"I beg to differ," Melanie said, taking the diaglove from her. "But I'm not going to argue with you now. Go. Get dinner. Talk to Devon. Or Tru. Get Rob to teach you how to hang a spoon from your nose. Anything, as long as you stay out of this tent for at least fifteen minutes. And then tell me if you still think that when you get back."

Amazingly, she acquiesced with barely a fight. "I'll call you if anything changes," Melanie said as Julia left the tent, but Julia didn't even acknowledge that.

"What the hell was that?" Melanie murmured, turning around to look at Alonzo, who still looked like he was out cold. "Alonzo Solace, if you don't realize you are the luckiest guy on this or any other planet," she said. "Well, second-luckiest, anyway. And if you don't do your best to convince her—"

"You got crutches?" Alonzo said, opening his eyes.

"What?" Melanie said. "How long have you been awake?"

"Crutches," he said. "I'm sick of lying on this bunk."

"You had a serious head injury, Alonzo," Melanie said. "You shouldn't go anywhere."

Alonzo waved his hand dismissively and sat up, wincing as his leg shifted. "My head is fine. So's my leg. Come on, Mel, just give me the crutches."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Melanie said. "Julia will be back soon—"

Alonzo swung his legs off the bunk.

"Will you slow down!?" Melanie said, grabbing his arm to stop him getting up. She started to run another scan. "Are you dizzy at all?"

"No," Alonzo said shortly. "And my head doesn't hurt. Neither does the leg."

"It will," Melanie said. "The painblock's going to wear off soon enough."

Alonzo shrugged off her hand and started to stand, balancing unsteadily on his good leg.

"Damn it, 'Zo, you're going to open my sutures. And I did a really nice job with those, mister!"

Alonzo turned and looked into her eyes, and she almost took a step backwards. "Either give me the crutches, or I walk out of here without them," he said quietly.

Melanie hesitated, then decided he was just crazy enough to try it. _And the scan says he's fine, no swelling of the brain._ "Fine," she said finally, turning to pull the crutches they'd made for him all those weeks ago out from under her bunk. "But I won't be responsible for what Julia does when she finds out you bolted."

He shoved the tent flap aside deftly with one crutch and hobbled out of the tent.

* * *

"Julia!" Toshiko said from one of the mess tent tables, waving her over to sit next to her. "Todd was telling me about the Terrier you helped. Do they really have red blood?"

Julia nodded. "It isn't really all that surprising," she said, glad to have a conversation to distract her. "There were cases of parallel evolution on Earth, with different organisms developing similar traits and appearances because of similar environmental pressures. Oxygenated blood is a very efficient way to—"

"Oh, no, you don't," Phoebe interrupted, coming over to hand her a bowl of synthofu. "If you get this one," she nodded at Todd, "started talking about evolution, I'll lose all my customers."

Todd rolled his eyes. "Philistine. You wouldn't know a healthy intellectual discussion from a barroom brawl."

Phoebe patted Toshiko on the shoulder. "If it gets to be too much for you with these two, just give me a holler. I'll come over and tell some blonde jokes."

Todd gave her a haughty look. "I am living proof that blonde jokes are completely baseless," he said, and she laughed as she headed back to the cooking area.

"Speaking of healthy intellectual discussions, I wanted to ask you something, Julia," Todd said. "I've been trying to figure out how the Terriers are able to communicate with us."

Julia sat down, nodding. "I've been trying to do that myself. Well, part of it, anyway. It's not the mechanics of it—we know that humans are at least somewhat sensitive to electromagnetic fields. That part makes sense."

"Right, like a fear cage," Todd said.

"A what?" Toshiko said. "What is that, some sort of sick experiment?"

"It's a well-documented phenomenon," Julia said. "Have you ever been in a place that made you feel frightened or uneasy, or like you were being watched, and you couldn't figure out why?"

Toshiko shrugged, looking confused. "I guess so, maybe. There was one area on the ship I didn't like to walk through."

"That corridor next to the mess hall?" Julia said.

Toshiko nodded, her eyes wide. "How did you know?"

"I felt it, too," she said. "The first time I went to breakfast, it was really early and there was no one around, so I actually ran past it. Thank god no one was there to see it," she added, smiling ruefully. "I'd have never heard the end of it."

"Chances are, there were unshielded electromagnetic fields around," Todd said. "They can cause sensations like that. It's a likely cause of a whole lot of ghost stories. They had all sorts of problems with that in the first generation stations, I heard."

Julia nodded. "So it makes sense that if a species developed a method of communication based on electromagnetic fields, we might be able to sense those fields, at least to a limited extent," she said. "The part that has me stumped is how we can identify the specific emotions so clearly."

Toshiko blinked. "Why?"

"Because it'd be like…" Julia frowned, trying to find an analogy. "Like landing here and meeting up with a species that had vocal folds and a mouth capable of making sounds like we do, and immediately understanding their language. The odds against it are astronomical."

Todd looked at Julia, wide-eyed. "Wait," he said. "Maybe that's the way we should look at this."

Julia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What if our sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, and their ability to generate them, are like our ability to hear and to generate sound?" he said.

"Um, you really lost me," Toshiko said.

"Maybe what we're picking up is just the first step," Todd said, getting excited. "And once we figure out the language—"

Julia's eyes went wide. "You really think we might be able to communicate telepathically?"

"We're already partway there, aren't we?" Todd said. "You were able to have a conversation with their doctor."

Julia stared at him wonderingly. "And part of it was figuring out how to interpret what I was sensing," she said, nodding slowly. "He wanted to know how the extract I gave him equated to the plant leaves, how many leaves it would take to make it, and all I got was this weird…hollow sensation."

"And you figured out what it meant from context," Todd said. "That's how anybody would figure out how to communicate with someone who didn't speak their language."

Julia smiled. "I hadn't thought of it that way." She frowned. "But it still doesn't explain how I was able to identify the emotions themselves almost immediately."

"Maybe it wasn't immediately," Todd said. "You said you'd been getting flashes of feelings for some time before you fell down that hill, right? And you got up close and personal during the attack even before that."

Julia nodded.

"What if you'd been sensing stuff for a while, but hadn't been aware of it?" Todd said. "You might have been subconsciously processing those sensations, and your brain was able to make sense of it over time."

Julia looked skeptical. "I'm not sure I buy it," she said. "The problem is, there wouldn't have been any context in those situations to allow my brain to draw those conclusions."

"But there might have been," Toshiko cut in. "Remember, we're not just talking about their communications with us. They're communicating with each other, all the time, right?" She looked over at Todd to see if he was following her. "The language analogy works here, too. It's like a baby learning to speak. They're exposed to it, not even necessarily aware that they're learning, and they're picking up on what words mean, even abstract words, just by that exposure."

Todd looked at her, impressed, and she blushed.

"This is amazing," Julia said, not noticing Toshiko's reaction, and then suddenly looked nervous.

"What?" Toshiko said.

Julia looked dismayed. "What if I've been babbling like a baby at them, and I didn't even know it?"

Toshiko laughed out loud.

* * *

"Okay, it's time to start the fun part," Danziger said, handing a loaded handgun to Devon. He nodded at a nearby log propped on a small hillock. He'd set some small rocks along the top of it. "Sorry it's just rocks. I'd love to let you have the satisfaction of blowing some bottles apart, but we kinda need everything we've got."

Devon was looking nervously at the gun in her hand.

"Hey, it's not gonna bite," he said.

"I know," Devon said defensively.

Danziger took a long look at her, then turned to Uly. "Okay, kid, you're up. Remember what I said—keep relaxed and—"

"I know," Uly said. "Squeeze, don't jerk. I got it." He lined up the gunsight with the top of the rock and took a deep breath.

Devon jumped at the shot.

"Don't worry about it," Danziger said to Uly, though Devon could tell he'd noticed her flinch. "It'll take a little bit for you to get the feel of it. It looks like you were a little high. Try lowering it a little."

Uly nodded, took another breath, lined up his sight again, and squeezed.

Even prepared for it this time, Devon jumped.

"I got it!" Uly said triumphantly as one of the rocks on the end tumbled off the back of the log.

"Lucky shot," Tru said derisively.

Uly shot her a look. "Let's see you do better," he said.

Danziger tried to hide his smile. "You take a few more shots, Uly," he said. "Tru will get her chance in a minute."

It looked for a moment like Tru had been right as Uly missed his next two, but then he got three in a row. He turned to give Tru the same "let's see you do better" look.

"Attaboy!" Danziger said. "All right, make that gun safe. Tru, you're next."

Devon wondered if he was leaving her to last to give her a chance to calm down. _If so_, she thought, _it isn't working._ It seemed like the more time she had to think about pulling the trigger, the more nervous she got.

She watched as Tru missed her first three shots, then hit two, and missed the last two.

"Ha!" Uly said. "I win!"

"Not so fast," Danziger said. "Your mom still gets her chance."

Devon groaned inwardly. She stepped forward after Danziger finished setting up the rocks again, keeping the gun pointed at the ground until she was ready to aim.

"You know how to do it," Danziger said. "It's just rocks. No big deal, okay?"

_It's just rocks_, Devon told herself. _Just point and squeeze. No big deal._ She raised the gun, aimed—

"Um, Devon, you need to take the safety off," Danziger said quietly.

"Oh," Devon said, flushing. "Right." She flipped the safety off with her thumb, lined up the sight, took a breath like Uly had. And froze.

"I think you have it lined up pretty well," Danziger said after several seconds.

"Just…give me a second," Devon said, and she could practically feel beads of sweat popping out on her forehead. _Just squeeze_, she told herself.

The gun jumped in her hand, and a branch on a tree a good three meters above and fifteen behind the little rocks snapped and fell to the ground. Devon felt her heart pounding in her chest so hard she was sure everyone could hear it.

"No problem," Danziger said mildly. "You know what happened?"

"I was gripping it too tight," Devon said shortly, not looking at him.

"Yeah," Danziger said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Just a little. Take a breath, and give it another try."

_I don't want to_, Devon thought, trying to get her heart to slow down. "Okay," she said, and forced herself to raise the gun again. _Come on, god damn it, it's just metal and bioplast, not a dragon. It can't hurt you. Just point and squeeze._

This time there was no telling where the shot had gone, except that it was nowhere near the rocks.

"Here," Danziger said, coming up behind her. "You're tense. Let me—"

Devon jumped as he put his hands on her shoulders, and she thanked every god in the universe that she'd flipped the safety back on.

"Close your eyes," Danziger said in her ear, and he started massaging her shoulders.

In any other situation, it would have been nice, Devon realized after a moment, but it wasn't working here. "Danziger," she said, pulling away.

"Sorry," he said, raising his hands and backing off. "I was just trying to—"

"It's okay," she said, turning to set the gun down on the little bench they'd practiced breaking them down on. "It's fine, I just—" She couldn't seem to get herself to look him in the eye. "I can't do this right now, that's all. I'm still too—"

"Oh, man," Danziger said, "I'm sorry, I didn't even think. You've probably still got a ton of adrenaline running through you after this morning." He ran his hand through his unruly hair. "I shouldn't have made you try. Don't worry about it, we can try again tomorrow. Or the day after. There's no rush."

Devon wanted to smile at him, grateful for his covering for her like that, but she just nodded and turned to walk away.

"Mom?" Uly said. "Can I stay and shoot some more?"

"Sure," Devon said, barely glancing back at him. "Just do as Danziger says, okay?"

_Jesus_, Devon thought, walking back towards her tent. _I'm a complete basket-case. What the hell is wrong with me?_ She sighed, frustrated, and almost ran into Alonzo as he came out of the med tent on crutches.

"Sorry!" Devon said, stopping short, and then frowning at him. "What are you doing up and about?"

"Melanie sprang me," he said, but there was a furtive look in his expression that made Devon wonder. He started towards the ATV, and Devon followed him.

"Really?" she said, smiling skeptically. "And what did Julia have to say about that?"

"Oh, come on, Devon," Alonzo said, "I was bored out of my mind. So Julia went to get something to eat, and I—"

"Ran away?" Devon said. She looked pointedly at the ATV. "You weren't thinking of running very far, were you? I mean, you were unconscious for a long time, not very long ago."

"Nah," he said. He nodded at the low ridge just west of the camp. "I just thought I'd run up to that hill and see if I could contact the Terriers. I'm worried about Jupiter."

"Oh," Devon said. She hesitated, worried, but finally nodded. She had to admit she was worried about their Terrier friend, too. "Okay. But not any farther than that, okay? And only till it gets dark," she said. "If anything happened to you, Julia would have my hide."

"Yeah, sure," Alonzo said, and headed for the ATV.

There was something off about his tone that made Devon stand and watch as he pulled away in the ATV.

* * *

"Here you go," Julia said, coming into the med tent a while later with a bowl of synthofu in hand. "The best dinner I could come up with."

"Thanks," Melanie said, taking it from her and bracing herself for the reaction she knew was coming.

It didn't take long. "Where's Alonzo?" Julia said, looking around wildly as if he might be hiding somewhere in the tent.

"He's fine," Melanie said quickly. "He woke up just after you left, and he threatened to walk out on his own if I didn't give him crutches. He was really snotty about it, too."

"You let him go?!" Julia said, aghast.

"I didn't have a lot of choice, did I?" Melanie said defensively. "I'd have had to tie him down or sedate him, and I didn't think either one of those was a good idea." She smiled ruefully. "I've learned my lesson about sedating people willy-nilly, see?"

"Hell of a time to learn that one!" Julia snapped, and Melanie winced.

"He was fine, Julia," Melanie said seriously. "I wouldn't have let him go if I didn't think it was safe. I care about him, too, you know."

Julia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. "I know. I'm sorry," she said, trying to sound conciliatory. "I didn't mean to yell. I just—"

"So you've changed your mind about it being better if Alonzo didn't say he loves you?" Melanie said archly.

Julia looked distressed. "Melanie…why did he leave?"

Melanie frowned. "He didn't say. I assumed he was bored. You know how much he hated being cooped up in the tent those first few days we were here. He's probably pissed off about having to be on crutches again."

Julia nodded, but she didn't look convinced. She turned and left the tent before Melanie could say anything else. Once outside, she looked around the camp, trying to spot Alonzo, but he wasn't anywhere she could see. She headed over to where he usually set up his bunk, next to the Transrover, and his bunk was there, but he wasn't in it.

"Looking for Alonzo?" Devon called.

Julia turned, and saw Devon sitting in the passenger seat of one of the rails, holding a monocular. She pointed to the west as Julia came up. "He took the ATV. He said he was worried about Jupiter."

Julia looked, and she could just make out the outline of the ATV on the ridge, backlit by the setting sun. _He's just up there to talk to the Terriers_, she told herself ruthlessly. _That's all it is._ But a tiny voice in her head said, _That still doesn't explain this morning. What if he has some way to contact the Council?_ She swallowed hard. _Stop it. It's not him. It __can't__ be._

"Is everything all right?" Devon said, worried. "I've been keeping an eye on him. But…should I have kept him here? He said Melanie let him go, and I assumed that meant he was okay."

"He's fine," Julia said absently, looking out at Alonzo. "As long as he comes back and lets me scan him again before he goes to sleep. I want to be sure the head injury is healing properly."

"I told him to come back before it gets dark," Devon said. "But I can call him back in if you—"

"No," Julia said quickly. "No, I just wanted to see where he'd gone."

Devon frowned. "Julia, he just went up to talk to the Terriers…" she said, trailing off uneasily, suddenly remembering the feelings she'd sensed through the Terrier.

Julia turned and looked at Devon. "Of course," Julia said, "why else would he be up there?"

Devon watched her walk back to the med tent, then turned to look back up at Alonzo. There'd been something in the way Julia looked that had made her nervous.

* * *

Alonzo rolled back into camp well past dark, and almost forgot to call in so they could shut down the perimeter alarms. Danziger glared at him as he drove the ATV to its spot by the Transrover.

"Where the hell have you been?" Danziger said. "Mel tried calling you on gear twenty minutes ago!"

"I had it off," Alonzo said.

"I know that," Danziger said patiently. "You not answering was kind of a clue. I was about ready to come up there and get you."

"I just needed some time," Alonzo said sullenly.

"Hey, I get that," Danziger said. "Next time, just keep your gear on and check in now and then." He tapped his gear. "Mel, Solace is back. You want me to send him over there?"

"No," Alonzo said, cutting in. "Tell Mel to come over to my bunk."

Danziger frowned at him, catching the emphasis he put on her name. "Did you catch that, Mel?" he said, bemused.

"Yeah," Melanie said, sounding depressed. "I caught it. Tell him I'll be over in a minute."

Melanie looked over at Julia. "I think you should take this."

Julia shook her head, staring intently at whatever she'd been working on. "He asked for you, didn't he?"

Melanie bit her lip. "You want me to try to find out what's going on?"

"No!" Julia said a little too quickly. "No, just let it go, Mel."

Melanie frowned. "You know what it is, don't you?"

Julia shook her head, but she wouldn't meet Melanie's eyes. "Just tell him to come by tomorrow so I can take a look at the leg."

Melanie bit her tongue, knowing it was Alonzo she was angry with, not Julia. _Why the hell is it so hard for these two to talk to each other?_ she thought, storming over to Alonzo's bunk. She managed to keep herself from yelling at Alonzo, too, but just barely.

_Maybe he's just upset about the leg being injured again_, she told herself, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt as she scanned him. "Julia wants you to come by tomorrow night, just to be sure everything's copacetic, okay?"

Alonzo nodded. He frowned. "Listen, Mel, about earlier," he said.

"Yeah?" Melanie said, crossing her arms.

Alonzo rolled his eyes. "You don't make it easy to apologize, y'know," he said.

"Why should I?" she said. "You're not making it easy for me to like you."

"Yeah," Alonzo said, nodding glumly. "I know. Listen, it's not about you."

"Then what is it about, Alonzo?" she said pleadingly.

He sighed. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet, okay?"

Melanie looked hard at him. "Okay," she said finally. "But could you get there soon? The waiting is killing me." She smiled crookedly, patted his shoulder, and turned to go back to the med tent.

He watched her go, wishing he could. _But if just the little bit Julia knows made her think I'm the spy, what'll the rest of them think when they know everything?_ He shook his head. _God, I'm so screwed._ He felt the anger flare up again. Of all the people in the camp, he thought he'd at least get the benefit of the doubt from Julia. _I was stupid to think I'd earned her trust_, he thought bitterly. _I should have known she doesn't trust anybody._

* * *

"Damn, it's cold!" Phoebe said for the third time since they'd left the camp to scout the next morning.

"You bellyaching about it isn't going to make it any warmer," Artie said mildly from his perch on the back of the ATV.

"It might," Phoebe said with dignity. "Moving my lips keeps the circulation going, after all."

"I can think of better ways for you to move your lips," Artie said, then froze, his eyes wide. _Oh, crap!_ he thought. _Did I just say that out loud?_

"Arturo Sandoval, are you flirting with me?" Phoebe said archly.

"I didn't mean—I just—it was—I—" Artie stammered.

Phoebe laughed out loud for a long moment. "Relax, honey!" she said after she caught her breath. "That's one thing you'll never hear me complain about."

Artie let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, the look on your face—hang on," Phoebe said, pulling the rail to a halt. "What do you think of that?" she said, pointing at a leafy shrub they hadn't seen before. It had some odd-looking purple-red berries on it.

Artie pulled out his scanner and hopped out of the rail. He ran the scanner over the berries, then grimaced as he read the scan results.

"That doesn't look good," Phoebe said from the rail.

"It isn't," he said. "Remind me to tell everybody to stay the hell away from these. Alkaloids. Looks like one of these would be enough to kill somebody. I doubt they're even safe to touch. I'll have to ask Julia."

Phoebe swore under her breath. "When is this planet going to cut us some slack?" she said. "Our food situation is bad enough already, winter's coming, and this is what we get? Killer berries?"

Artie shrugged, coming back to climb into the rail. "At least we know it's going to be warm once we finally get to New Pacifica," he said. "We have something to look forward to."

"Oh, that'll be nice, all right," Phoebe said. "Ocean breezes and sunsets and long walks on the beach in the moonlight. Can you imagine the ocean with two moons?"

"I can't imagine the ocean at all," Artie said. "I mean, VR's one thing, but the real thing is probably completely different."

"It's gonna be beautiful," Phoebe said confidently. "Trust me. You and me, we're gonna walk along that beach the first night we get there."

"I wouldn't have taken you for the 'long walks on the beach' type," Artie said, grinning.

"I would be for the right person, baby," Phoebe said, turning to smile coyly at him.

* * *

Devon sat in her tent after a long day's travel, trying to build up her courage to go shoot a gun again. Uly was practically vibrating over on his bunk, eager to go, but Devon kept finding ways to stall.

The odd thing was, usually Yale would have been prodding her to go. He'd been very kind after she told him what had happened with her last try at shooting, but he was insistent that she needed to keep trying. Yet here he was, asking her inconsequential questions every time she started to get up.

"Mo-oom," Uly said finally. "Mr. Danziger's gonna wonder where we are. We're supposed to be there already!"

"Okay," Devon sighed, standing up, and Uly jumped to his feet and stood by the door, almost dancing in his excitement. "Yale, do you want to come with us?"

If she thought Yale had looked nervous before, now he looked almost terrified. "No!" he said, then made a clear attempt to get himself under control. "Forgive me, Devon, but my weapons aversion programming would make observing you quite…uncomfortable."

"Oh," Devon said. "Of course. I'm sorry."

"Do not be," Yale said. "Good luck, Devon. I'm sure you will be fine this time."

Devon hesitated at the tent flap, worried about Yale, but Uly grabbed her hand and dragged her out before she could say anything more.

Yale was wrong. Devon was far from fine, though she had the tiny consolation that she'd improved a little. She managed to fire the gun three times this time before she locked up again. None of the shots was anywhere near the target, but Danziger was very encouraging.

"Just keep working with it, okay?" he said, sitting next to her and watching Uly and Tru duel for the night's win. "You'll get there."

"Sure," Devon said, not sounding convinced.

"Uly's doing great," he said, watching as Uly took out yet another rock.

"Much to Tru's dismay," Devon said under her breath, trying to get herself out of her rotten mood. _It's the weather_, she told herself, pulling her jacket tighter against the damp cold. It felt like it was going to rain at any second, a complete switch from the nonstop dry they'd had over the last few weeks.

Danziger snorted, then scrambled to his feet as Tru shoved Uly hard. "Hey, what'd I tell you?"

Uly looked stricken. "Not to mess around when we're holding guns. I'm sorry, Mr. Danziger."

"Tru?" he said, glaring at her.

Tru glared at Uly. "He started it."

"So you had to finish it?" Danziger shook his head. "You know better, Tru. Give me the guns, you two. We're done for the night."

"Fine," Tru said. "I'm bored anyway."

"You mean you were losing," Uly said, walking past her.

Tru started to go after him again, but Danziger grabbed her.

"Uly," Devon said sharply, "back to our tent. And tell Yale exactly what happened here. Got it?"

Uly looked like he'd just stepped in a pile of manure. "Do I have to?"

"If it's so bad, why do you keep doing things that make me do it to you?" Devon said pointedly.

Uly sighed and trudged off toward the tent. Devon turned back in time to see Danziger sending Tru off in the opposite direction.

"Sorry about that," Devon said. "They're a little competitive, I think."

"Yeah," Danziger said wryly. "I wonder where they got that from."

Devon chuckled, then found herself looking everywhere but at him. "Listen, um…thanks for being patient with me," she said, trying not to sound as mortified as she felt.

"No problem," Danziger said, but his manner was suddenly even more stiff and awkward than she felt.

_What did I say?_ Devon wondered. "Uh…okay, then. I guess I'll see you—"

"Would you have dinner with me?" Danziger said in a rush. And right as he said it, a large raindrop hit his nose, and he blinked in surprise, then glared up at the sky.

Devon laughed, and then realized what he'd said. "I…I'm sorry, did you say dinner?" she said, and winced at how completely clueless she sounded.

"Yeah. You know, uh, eating, conversation." He smiled tentatively. "Dinner."

Devon held her breath, almost jumping as another raindrop hit the back of her neck. She thought desperately, trying to figure out how to ask what she wanted to ask in a way that would let both of them out gracefully if she'd misinterpreted.

"Jeez, Adair, I didn't ask you the square root of 92 or something," he said gruffly, the smile gone. "It's just a date."

Devon's eyebrows shot up. "A…a date," she repeated stupidly. _Well, that answers your question._

"Yes," he said, looking even more nervous than he had seconds earlier. "A date. Look, forget I—"

"Okay," she heard herself saying as the rain started to fall in earnest.

His face lit up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, feeling a little shell-shocked.

"Okay," he said, sounding completely surprised, then he grinned. "Okay! Great!" He started to walk away.

"Hey, Danziger!" she called after him, and he turned to look back at her questioningly. "I mean, um, John. Aren't you forgetting something?"

He blinked.

"Where? When? What should I wear?" Devon said. _What should I __wear__?_ she thought, flushing. _What is __wrong__ with me?_

"Oh! Um, I need a little time to set things up. How about…in three days, at sunset? I'll, uh, pick you up at your tent." He blushed, looking like a teenager, and suddenly Devon felt a tiny bit less stupid. "And I guess it's casual dress. It's not like we have a lot of other options."

"Right," Devon said, nodding, and he walked away.

_I have a date_, Devon thought, turning to head back to her tent. _Oh, my god. I have a __date__. With John Danziger._

* * *

Julia pulled aside the tent flap and stepped into the med tent. She stepped towards her bunk, pulling back the hood of her jacket and shaking off the rain, then jumped as she realized Alonzo was in the tent with her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Mel told me you wanted to scan me again," he said coldly. "So scan me already."

"Oh," Julia said, feeling off-balance. _Of course Melanie told him that_, she thought bitterly. _And that's why she isn't here. She wants us to talk. But that's the last thing I want._ She turned, grabbed her diaglove, and began her scan. Alonzo didn't say a word through the entire process, and Julia felt an oppressive tension, like a storm was building.

"You're doing well," she said finally, pulling off the diaglove. "You should be off the crutches again within a couple of days."

Alonzo grunted. He stood, grabbing the crutches, and started for the tent flap. Julia watched him, torn between relief that he was leaving, and regret.

But then he turned and hobbled back towards her. She took an involuntary step backwards as he flung the crutches aside, and found herself pressed back against the lab table, his lips pressing roughly against hers. She started to pull away, but he grabbed her arms and held her.

He pulled away abruptly, but he didn't let go of her arms. "You still want me," he said, his face inches from hers.

Julia took a shaky breath. "What?" she managed to say.

"You heard me. You still feel something for me. That hasn't changed. Don't try to deny it," he said, his voice hardening.

Julia swallowed. "Let me go," she whispered.

"Why? So you can run away like you always do? Not this time, Julia. I want to hear you say it to my face," he said, and the look on his face was frightening.

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," she said, but he was already squeezing her arms painfully.

"Bullshit. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You have a question. So ask it!"

Julia hesitated, trying to think of what she could say, but there was nothing. _He must have felt it through the Terriers_, she thought sickly. _But I didn't mean it—I __don't__—_

He shook her. "Say something!"

"I—" She stopped shaking her head helplessly.

"Have you told Mel what you think?" he said, shaking her again. "What about Devon?"

"No," Julia said, trying to squirm out of his grip. "No! I don't even know what I think! Alonzo, please, you—you're scaring me."

"You've never stopped being scared," he said savagely. "You don't really believe I'm the spy, or you'd have told Devon already. No, this is just one more excuse to push me away because you're so terrified of caring about anyone." He released her abruptly and looked away, running his hand through his hair. He turned back to her. "Damn it, Julia, what do I have to do? I said I'd leave with you if they threw you out, for god's sake! And do you know why?"

Julia shook her head, her eyes wide.

"Because I love you!" he shouted.

Julia gripped the edge of the lab table, trying to steady herself.

"But that isn't good enough for you, is it?" he said, leaning over her again, and she shrank away.

"Don't—" she said.

"Don't what?" he snapped. "Love you? That'd be so much easier for you, wouldn't it? You could tell yourself you're doing the right thing, accusing me, and go on living in your hermetically sealed little world, never letting anyone in, never feeling anything—"

"Stop it," Julia said.

"Hell, maybe Hardy's right—maybe you just made up the whole thing so you could get rid of me!"

"No!" Julia said, her voice breaking. "Please—"

"Why not? It's the sort of thing your mother would do, isn't it?"

Julia pushed him away violently, and he staggered backwards, wincing as he put weight on his injured leg.

"Excuse me?" Yale's voice came from outside the tent. "Dr. Heller? Could I have a word with you?"

Julia took a sobbing breath, and Alonzo took a half-step towards her. "I'm not the spy," he said under his breath. "And you know it."

"C-come in, Yale," Julia said.

Alonzo reached down to pick up his crutches as Yale pulled the tent flap aside.

"Forgive me," Yale said, looking warily at Alonzo. "I did not mean to interrupt—"

"We're done," Alonzo said, looking hard at Julia. He turned abruptly and hobbled past Yale to leave the tent.

Julia sank down on her camp stool, breathing hard.

"Dr. Heller, are you all right?"

"No," she said raggedly. "Not really."

"I'm sorry," Yale said, starting to turn to leave. "I should come back later—"

"Wait," Julia said, looking up at him and noticing the tension in his face. "You really needed to see me? About what?"

Yale hesitated, looking at her ashen face. "It can wait—"

"No," Julia said, shaking her head. "Please, Yale. I—I really need to think about something else for a while."

Yale nodded, but then hesitated.

"What is it?" Julia said. "What's wrong?"

"I…have not been entirely honest with you, Doctor," he said slowly.

Julia frowned, waiting for him to continue.

"I have had more…episodes," he said.

"How many?" Julia said uneasily.

"Two more blackouts," he said, "and I believe I may have spoken again during the second, but I cannot be certain." He stopped, taking a deep breath. "I also think Alonzo may have witnessed at least a portion of that incident. It was the night before last, and I thought I heard him say something as I became aware of my surroundings again."

Julia's lips tightened slightly. "I—I'll ask him about it," she said. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Yale said, and he looked frightened. "Yesterday morning, after you and the others went after Alonzo, I had a…disturbing experience." He swallowed. "I was speaking to Ulysses, and he said something, and suddenly, I was seeing the interior of a small ship, filled with men in pressure suits, holding military-style mag-pro rifles. I was holding one as well. An older model."

Julia took a slow breath, trying to keep her expression neutral.

"It did not last very long," Yale said, "but it was…powerful."

"Were there any physical symptoms that you were aware of?" Julia asked carefully.

Yale shook his head. "Doctor Heller…" He paused. "Julia, am I…dangerous?"

Julia looked at him for a long moment. "I don't know, Yale," she said, deciding honesty was best. "The fact that you're here, this long after most of the Yale units were recalled, leads me to think you aren't. The Council doesn't usually gamble, not when it could blow back on them. I think if they thought you were a danger, they'd have recalled you along with the rest of the Yales."

"But the Council has already tried to destroy the Eden Project," Yale said uneasily. "I may be a part of that. You would all be better off if I were no longer with you."

"They tried," Julia said, "and they failed." She started to reach out to him, hesitated for a moment, then put her hand on Yale's non-cybernetic arm. "Yale, I need you to focus on what is happening, not on what might happen. Our options are limited—there's no way I'd sanction us leaving anybody behind, even if Devon would allow it. And you know how much Devon relies on you. So you're stuck with us." She smiled crookedly at him. "That means we need to figure out how to manage this."

Yale looked at her seriously for a long moment, then squared his shoulders. "What do you need me to do?"

Julia smiled less ironically and squeezed his arm. "Keep track of what is happening before, during and after each episode," she said. "I need to know what might be triggering these, so we can either prevent them or minimize them. Log everything you can—the time of day, the temperature, ambient light, anything you can think of that could be a factor."

Yale nodded.

"Also, have you been aware of any warning signs when these things are about to happen?" Julia asked.

He shook his head. "Each has occurred with frightening speed," he said uneasily. "Though they do seem to occur more often when I am by myself."

"Can you review your recordings of the events leading up to each of the ones you've experienced so far?" Julia said. "Look for anything anomalous. If we can find anything to help us predict them, we can make sure we're ready to act if we need to."

Yale nodded again, then looked gratefully at her. "Thank you, Julia. You have been very…reassuring." He hesitated, then continued. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Julia shook her head. "No. I appreciate the offer, Yale, but…no." _I have to deal with this myself. I just wish I knew how_, she thought.

She sighed, knowing thinking about it more would just make her miserable, so she decided to go find Melanie and at least get telling her out of the way. She pulled her hood up and walked towards the mess tent through the rain, contemplating her conversation with Yale in the hope that it would keep her from thinking about Alonzo. Unfortunately, she was so focused on that, she didn't see Hardy until he deliberately clipped her shoulder as he passed her.

He turned to look at her challengingly as she stopped and faced him.

_Oh, did you pick the wrong time_, Julia thought. "Who was she?" she said suddenly after looking angrily at him for a moment, and it was as much a surprise to her that she said it as it was to Hardy.

"What?" Hardy said, caught off guard.

"The woman who did whatever it was that made you so bitter about the Council," Julia said, deciding she might as well go on now that she'd started. "It had to be a woman—you haven't gone after Morgan Martin at all, so it can't just be Council flunkies in general. So who was she?"

Hardy hesitated for an instant, then shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, but it was obvious he was lying.

"Look, Hardy, I've done more than my share of bad things, but whatever she did is not my fault. If you want to hate me for being me, that's one thing. But I'm not her!"

Julia turned on her heel and stalked off toward the mess tent. So she didn't notice the shocked look on Hardy's face as she walked away.

* * *

Travel the next day was a nightmare. The rain had intensified overnight, a slow, steady, bone-chilling drizzle that made the terrain slippery and soggy by turns. They came frighteningly close to having the Transrover tip over in the early afternoon, at which point Devon made the call to stop for the day.

"I know," she said when Danziger came up to her, his expression dark. "I hate to lose a day of travel, too, but I just can't see risking trying to keep moving in this rain."

Danziger shook his head. "It wouldn't matter if the weather were perfect right now," he said. "That rock the 'rover slid into did more than keep it from tipping over."

Devon groaned. "How bad?"

Danziger shrugged. "The axle's not bent, but the bushing's loose, and we're losing lubricant. We can't afford to try driving on it till I fix it. It's gonna be a couple of days at least," he said glumly.

Devon swore.

"Sorry, Devon," Danziger said.

"Oh, no, I'm not blaming you," Devon said, suddenly feeling awkward again. "It's just…I'm worried about the weather. If it drops another few degrees, this isn't going to be rain. And we have no clue how any of the vehicles will handle snow. Hell, I have no clue how any of us will handle it."

"That does bring up something I wanted to ask you about," Danziger said. "Did your people plan for any sort of weather prediction?"

"Of course," Devon said, and then added with an ironic smile, "we have all sorts of equipment—"

"—in one of the supply pods," Danziger finished for her.

"Hey, now, don't get too depressed," Melanie said, and Devon turned to find her standing behind them with her arms clenched tight around her, water dripping down her face. "I have a plan."

"A plan?" Devon said.

Melanie nodded. "We know the Council has a satellite, right?" she said. "And it's probably geosynchronous, since Julia never seemed to have any trouble connecting in VR."

Devon looked dubious. "A satellite we probably can't connect to; and if we can, probably has encryption; and even if it didn't, that probably doesn't have sensors that would be useful for predicting weather."

Melanie looked sourly at her. "Oh, ye of little faith. I can get a connection, and I'm betting Valerie can decrypt it. And what kind of moron would put a satellite in orbit that didn't at least have basic imaging capabilities?"

"This is the Council we're talking about, Mel," Danziger said dryly.

"Hey, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work," Mel said. "But I might as well give it a shot while we're stuck here. Besides, it might give us other useful information anyway."

"If you can make it work," Devon said, "I'll take back every unkind thing I ever said to you."

Melanie's eyes went wide. "Are you sure? There's an awful lot to take back." She winked, and Devon rolled her eyes.

* * *

Julia sighed, listening to the rain drumming on the tent roof. The last thing she needed was time on her hands, and here she was with all the time in the world.

She hadn't had to tell Melanie any of what had happened after she'd sent Alonzo over to the med tent. Everyone in the camp knew within minutes what had happened, or at least that they'd had an argument. _Which is why Yale interrupted us_, Julia realized, and was grateful to him for it.

Julia knew Melanie wanted her to get angry, to go after Alonzo, to do anything but sulk in her tent like Achilles, but she couldn't. All she could seem to do was keep replaying the conversation, over and over, pouring salt in her own wounds like she always did. Everything he'd said was exactly what she would have expected him to say if he really was the spy. And there was nothing he could say that would prove he wasn't.

_Just like there's no way for me to prove I'm not still loyal to the Council_, Julia thought, painfully reminded of her encounter with Hardy as well. _Which means I'm being completely unfair to him for suspecting him without any real evidence that he __is__—_

"Dr. Heller?" Yale said from outside the tent.

"Yes?" Julia said. "Come in, Yale."

He pulled the tent flap aside and came in, wiping rain from his eyes. "I completed my log of the circumstances surrounding each of my…experiences," he said, handing her a tablet. "I wish I thought it would be useful, but I cannot seem to find any patterns."

Julia took the tablet. "I knew it was a long-shot," she said, shrugging. "But I'll take a look anyway. There might be something in here, and you just need another set of eyes looking at it."

"I found it difficult to describe the flashbacks," he said, clearly confused. "They are…incomplete."

Julia looked at him curiously. "How do you mean?"

"Some portions are very clear and vivid, but other parts are vague at best," he said. "I may remember someone saying something, but I cannot picture their face. One part of a setting may be very detailed, while other parts are a blur. It is quite unlike my normal memory retrieval process."

Julia nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that confirms one thing for me," she said.

Yale looked questioningly at her.

"These are organic memory, not from your database," she said. "With most organic memory encoding, people remember the crucial portions, like the important parts of conversations, but things like the way the wall of a room looked you tend to leave out, because you can infer from the context that there was a wall, and that's all we need. And without regular reinforcement, even the most intense memories can fade over time." _With most people_, she thought bitterly. _Not me._

Yale looked dismayed. "I see."

"I know, it's not what you wanted to hear," she said. "But we already knew that was likely. It doesn't change anything."

Yale nodded. He started to turn to go, then turned back to look at Julia. "I am sorry that I am unable to help you as you are helping me."

Julia smiled at him. "You are, believe it or not. Just giving me something else to think about helps. And I really appreciate your concern. Especially when you have your own worries."

There was a sudden gust of wind, and the tent rattled around them. Julia frowned. "How bad is it out there?"

Yale shrugged. "It wasn't bad at all a moment ago. But it would seem it is getting worse."

He was right. That first gust was followed by a series of gusts equally strong.

"I should get back to Ulysses," Yale said.

Julia nodded, and then had to grab the tent flap and tie it shut after he left to keep it from flapping in the steadily intensifying wind.

Yale had to fight his way through the same wind to get back to his tent. Devon was pacing inside when he got back. He frowned. "Where is Ulysses?"

Devon shook her head. "He was supposed to be back ten minutes ago. But this wind came up so fast…"

Yale nodded. "Have you tried to reach him on the gear?" he asked.

Devon held up a set of gear with a disgusted look on her face.

Yale sighed. "We really must talk to him about keeping that with him at all times," he said. "Why don't you go look for him? I'll wait here, and if he returns, I will call you."

Devon nodded. "If he does get back before I do, tell him to brace for Hurricane Devon," she said darkly.

Yale smiled. "I do not think I will have to warn him," he said. "He knows you too well."

Devon ducked out the tent flap, and Yale pulled it shut after her. Even as he did, there was another massive gust of wind, and the flap flew out of his grasp, making a loud snapping noise as it did. Yale staggered back, raising his arms to protect his face as it lashed back towards him, and he was suddenly somewhere else.

_The dropship exploded, flames shooting out from the engine pod at the back, then instantly extinguished by the vacuum. Pieces of the ship flew in every direction, with a large chunk from the front spinning off into space._

"_Oh, god," he heard himself say. He fell to his knees as bits of the dropship rained down around him._

"_Did you really think we wouldn't be listening in?" the lieutenant said over the comm._

_He turned to look behind him. The lieutenant was standing in the airlock with three of the men from his unit. "You're such a boy scout, Sergeant. You should know by now that situations like Aeneas call for a firm hand."_

"_Situations like Aeneas shouldn't happen at all!" he said, suddenly furious. He felt his hands grip his mag-pro so hard he was sure he would crush it. "You call this a firm hand?" He gestured at the ruin around him. "Those were __kids__, Lieutenant! They didn't deserve this!"_

"_Lower your weapon, Sergeant," the lieutenant said. When Yale hesitated, he could see the lieutenant's eyes narrow. "Don't push your luck. Somebody upstairs likes you, but—"_

"Yale?" someone was saying tentatively.

Yale blinked and found himself standing in the center of his tent with his hands balled into fists, with Toshiko by the tent flap looking terrified, her dark hair plastered against her head by the rain. He swallowed hard and forced himself to let his hands relax. "Forgive me," he said. "I—"

"Are you all right?" Toshiko said, her eyes wide. "You looked—"

"I am quite well," he said, trying to calm himself. "Was there something you needed, Toshiko?"

"Um, yes," she said, still looking nervous. "I was hoping you had a recording of Breitman's Sixth Symphony in your database."

Yale blinked in surprise at her. "I was unaware you were fond of Breitman," he said.

She smiled tentatively, looking a little shamefaced. "I'm not, really," she said. "But Devon is, and…"

"And John Danziger wants to play her favorite piece on their date," Yale said, unable to keep the smile from his face, in spite of the lingering uneasiness from the flashback.

Toshiko nodded.

"I am happy to download a recording onto your tablet," he said, reaching out to take it from her. He plugged in his dataport and accessed the file.

"Yale," Toshiko said carefully as he handed her the tablet again, "are you sure you're all right?"

Yale glanced at her, and saw the fear in her face again. "I believe I was…experiencing a memory from my past. It is nothing to be afraid of," he added, as much for his own benefit as for her.

"It's just…you seemed angry," she said.

The tent flap was thrown aside, and Devon nearly ran into Toshiko as she dragged Uly inside. "Oh, sorry, Tosh," Devon said as Toshiko quickly sidestepped to get out of her way.

"Oh, it's all right," Toshiko said. "Thanks for the recording, Yale," she said, turning to him. "I was really getting bored with, um, my music, especially now that we're stuck here with nothing to do."

"It is my pleasure," Yale said as Toshiko left.

"All right, mister," Devon said to Uly. "You want to tell us what was so important you went off without your gear?"

Uly glanced nervously at Yale, and Yale could tell there was something he didn't want to say in front of his mother. "I just forgot it, Mom," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Uly," Devon said. "I was worried about you!"

"I know," Uly said miserably. "I won't do it again."

"You better not," Devon said.

There was a loud sound from somewhere outside the tent, and then a series of muffled shouts. Devon tapped her gear. "What's going on?" she said.

"The damned mess tent blew over!" Danziger yelled, his voice distorted by the sound of the wind against his mike. "We've got crap blowing everywhere! Get everybody out here to help!"

Devon groaned and turned to Yale. "You keep an eye on him," she said, nodding at Uly. "He's not to leave the tent without you or me for the next three days."

"But Mom!" Uly protested, but she'd already left the tent. "Yale, it isn't fair!" Uly said, turning to appeal to him. "I was just helping Mr. Danziger with…you know what. Why should I get grounded for trying to do something nice for her?"

"You still should have taken your gear with you, Ulysses," Yale said. "Now, why don't you get dried off."

"Can't you talk to her?" Uly said. "She's completely overreacting."

Yale shook his head. "It is not my place to interfere with your mother's ideas about discipline," he said.

"You just don't want her to yell at you, too," Uly said darkly.

"You are absolutely correct, Ulysses," Yale said seriously, and Uly couldn't keep himself from smiling.

It was another fifteen minutes before Yale was finally able to spare a moment to try to record his experience with the flashback for Julia, though if he was completely honest with himself, he had been stalling.

The explosion of the ship had been horrifying, even without the knowledge that there had been children on board. But he could not understand his role in that event. _Do you really want to?_ he thought sickly. He had certainly felt responsible in the memory. _What if I __was__ responsible for the deaths of those children?_

He forced himself to stop thinking about that aspect. _There are other elements of the flashback that could be important for Julia to know about_, he told himself. _Like the reference to…_

He blinked. He couldn't remember the name the officer had used. He was certain it was the name of the place he had been. He should have been able to remember it clearly now, because it had been clear in the memory, and his cybernetic memory had recorded everything else. But it was as if his mechanical memory skipped that moment. _Perhaps I should ask Toshiko if she heard me say anything_, he thought, worried. It was unnerving for him to be unable to remember an experience that had happened only moments earlier.

Devon came in with Danziger behind her. "Thanks for the help, Devon," Danziger said, holding the tent flap shut. "That coulda been a huge mess."

"Good thing Phoebe runs a tight ship over there," Devon said.

"Yeah," Danziger said. "Listen, between this and the Transrover, I'm pretty swamped right now. Would you mind giving me a—"

"Raincheck?" Devon said wryly.

Danziger smiled. "Exactly. I don't think I'll have it ready for tomorrow night. I had most of it planned out, but I want to get it right. And it definitely won't work if it's still raining."

"It's okay," Devon said, touched by the effort he was putting into this. But she was also acutely aware of Uly's eyes on her. "I'm fine with waiting a little longer."

* * *

Melanie came over to where Alonzo was trying to set up his bunk so it was under a tarp and out of the rain, awkwardly balancing on his good leg. "Need a hand?" she said.

He glanced back at her warily. "Nah, I got it."

"Well, I'm not leaving, so you might as well take the help," Melanie said.

Alonzo looked annoyed, then waved his hand at the cot. "Knock yourself out."

Melanie helped him get everything squared away, then put on a diaglove as he lowered himself gingerly onto the cot. "Time to check your leg," she said.

"It's fine," he said.

"And you got your medical degree when?"

"About the same time you did," he growled.

"Okay, screw this," Melanie said. "I was trying to be nice, but if you want to be an asshole, I can be an asshole right back. I've seen you do some spectacularly stupid things in my time, but nothing comes close to you yelling at Julia for no apparent reason!"

"Oh, there was a reason," Alonzo began, then stopped, staring stonily at the Transrover, his arms crossed over his chest.

"This is crazy, 'Zo! You don't have a mean bone in your body. What did Julia do that's got you treating her like Hardy does?"

Alonzo narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, saying crap like that's really gonna get me to open up to you. Back off, Mel."

Melanie shook her head. "Fine. If you're in a mood to burn bridges, I'll just scan your leg and move on." She ran the diaglove over his leg as he sat silently fuming.

"Lucky me," she said finally. "It's healing fine. You can probably get off the crutches in a few days. After which, you won't have to see me again. At all." She turned on her heel and stomped off towards the mess tent.

Alonzo watched her go, hating himself for having screwed up everything so badly he couldn't even talk to his friends anymore.

_No_, he thought, thinking angrily of Julia's suspicious look. _This isn't __my__ fault._


	5. Chapter 5

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 5

* * *

_A/N: So things look bad for our heroes, and they're about to get worse. I'm really mean to my characters, and everybody else's, too. But Alonzo and Julia really shouldn't have the corner on the angst market._

* * *

"Well, isn't this just our luck?" Helen said, staring at the wide, rough-looking river lying directly across their path. "First three days of non-stop rain, and now the biggest river we've run across yet."

"No kidding," Bill said. "I never thought we'd really use those swimming lessons, but..." He eyed the powerful current nervously.

"How can we cross that?" Devon said hopelessly, looking at the rain-swelled cataract. "We'll have to go north to someplace it gets narrower."

Danziger shook his head. "I think we can do it, and here's probably our best bet. We can get right down to the water on this side, and it looks like the bank is pretty low over there, too."

"But—" Devon began.

"Dev, we've already had this conversation," Danziger said quietly. "You know we need to find a winter camp soon, and I'd rather have this river behind us if the Council's still got people hanging around."

Devon looked dubiously at the river. "But how will we get the Transrover across?"

"Actually, I think the trailer can do it," Rick said, coming up next to them. "It's mostly bioplast, which is designed to have high buoyance."

"You think it'll hold up the weight of the 'rover?" Danziger said.

Rick shrugged. "We can test it out—we'll float it, measure how low it sits in the water, and put something we know the weight of on it, and measure the difference. If we need to, we can tie on some of the bioplast crates we've got. I really think it'll work, Devon."

"Okay," Helen said, "but what about the current? That river's moving pretty fast, and it looks like the water gets pretty rough farther south, and the bank gets steeper, too. How do we keep the raft from floating downstream?"

"Somebody's gonna have to go across," Danziger said. "We run a line across the river, tie it off, and hook the 'Rover's winch to it. It'll pull itself across. Then we use the winch to pull the next load over."

"How long do you think it'll take to set it all up?" Devon said.

Danziger looked at Rick. "Give us a couple of hours to figure out how to strap down the 'Rover," he said. "And have everybody unload the trailer and the 'Rover and start figuring out what and who needs to go across after it."

Rick nodded. "I really think we can get across before the sun sets," he said.

Devon sighed, then nodded. "Okay, do it. I'll talk to Julia about whether the water's too cold to swim."

"You got somebody in mind?" Danziger asked.

Devon smiled. "Todd," she said. "He was the best our swim instructor had ever seen. He kept trying to convince him to swim competitively, but Todd disapproves of competitive sports."

Danziger rolled his eyes.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Devon asked Julia, who was kneeling beside the river, scanning the water with her hand scanner.

Julia glanced up at her, then looked back at the scanner for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know, Devon. It's not so cold it's dangerous, at least not with short-term exposure. But I wouldn't recommend anybody staying in it for more than a few minutes."

"Do you think Todd will be okay if he swims across?"

"I guess so," she said reluctantly. "I'd like to see him take a change of clothes in a waterproof container, though, so he can get out of the wet clothes once he's across."

Devon nodded. "Good idea," she said. "I'll get Tosh working on it. And once we get the 'rover across, he can get warm in the cab."

"He should be careful not to ingest any of the water," Julia added. "I still don't know how some of these native organisms might react in the human body. I don't want a repeat of what Bill and I went through."

Devon smiled. "Neither does Todd, I'm sure. We'll make sure he's careful."

It took longer to get things going than Danziger had thought. The Transrover stubbornly kept shifting around on their makeshift raft, and it took a couple of hours to finally get it ready to go.

By then, Todd was bored stiff. He'd been ready to swim since the moment Devon asked him, and he had to admit, there was a part of him that was excited to finally get to show the Eden Project that he was useful.

And it didn't hurt that Toshiko was hovering nervously as he got ready to enter the water. "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked Julia for the third time.

"I'd go myself," Julia said, "but I'm a terrible swimmer."

"I'll be fine," Todd said, glancing at Devon for the go-ahead.

"Be careful," she said. "The current looks pretty fast."

"That's why I'm starting here," he said, nodding at the fifty meters he'd walked upstream. "It's not that far. I'll be over there in a couple of minutes." He grinned at Toshiko, who just looked even more worried.

But he was as good as his word. It only took a couple of minutes of strong swimming for him to climb out on the far side. He pulled the biocord towards the tree they'd picked out, then pulled his gear out of the waterproof bag. "Tell Tosh I'm fine," he said to Devon, waving across at them. "I'll have the biocord ready here in a minute."

"Get dry first!" Toshiko said, opening a channel. "It's too cold to be standing around wet!"

"I'm fine," he insisted, but he went ahead and pulled on the dry clothes anyway.

"Dang it, Tosh, did you have to get him into clothes that fast?" Melanie muttered, lowering the monocular she'd had trained on Todd. "I mean, I'd heard about swimmers' bodies, but…damn! Who knew all that was under that bushy beard?"

Devon snorted.

"Don't let Rob hear you say that. Besides, I thought you went for the brainiacs," Julia said pointedly.

"Todd has a beautiful mind, too," Melanie said, then waggled her eyebrows. "The body's a bonus! And who says I can't admire from afar?"

Toshiko ignored them both. "How long till we can get the Transrover across?" she said, nearly vibrating with impatience.

"You'll be on the first raftload across," Devon said, patting her on the shoulder. "Along with Julia. We'll get him checked out right away."

But right away turned out to be nearly a half an hour, after yet another biocord snapped under the strain of the Transrover shifting on the unstable trailer. Devon had to cover Uly's ears when Danziger started swearing colorfully.

"Oh, come on, like he hasn't heard it already?" Melanie said, remembering Devon's creativity when she'd been shot.

"I don't swear in front of him," Devon said stiffly, watching Danziger tying off the Transrover yet again.

"Mmm-hmm," Melanie said dubiously. She held her breath as they watched the Transrover floating unsteadily across the river. Rick and four of the other guys had to steady it with a line from this side of the river, and they had to work hard to fight the strength of the current, but it made it across safely.

"All right," Danziger said from the far side of the river after they'd rolled the Transrover onto dry ground. "Pull her back across for the next load!"

"Danziger, as soon as the next load gets over with the rail, I want a team ready to scout west," Devon said over the gear. "I want to know what's out there while we're separated like this."

"You got it, boss," he said.

"Don't call me that," Devon said irritably.

"Sure," Danziger said, grinning at her from across the river. "You're on the next load, your highness."

Devon waited till he'd turned back to supervise the raft again, then stuck out her tongue at him.

Melanie stifled a laugh.

* * *

"How fast do you think the water is moving?" Uly asked Tru.

"I have no idea," Tru said impatiently. Uly had been getting on her nerves all day, and it had only gotten worse once they'd been stuck on the side of the river for two hours waiting to cross. They were on one of the last raft-loads across, a conglomeration of bioplast crates and other odds and ends, along with Bess.

"And you don't want to find out the hard way, either," Bess said with a warning tone from the other side of the raft where she was keeping an eye on the biocord that the winch on the Transrover was using to pull them across. "Stay back from the edge, you two."

"Yes, ma'am," Uly said, but there was an undercurrent of rebelliousness to his tone that Tru caught.

"Yes, ma'am," she mimicked with a grating whine. "Goody two-shoes."

"Shut up," he said, glaring at her. "You haven't gone near the water since we got on."

"That's 'cause I'm not an idiot," she said derisively.

"Ha," he said. "It's 'cause you're scared of the water."

Tru clenched her jaw. He was actually right—she'd been nervous about the river ever since they got to it. It was easily twice as big as anything they'd crossed yet, and the power of the water was intimidating. Especially since she couldn't swim.

"You are!" Uly said, shocked. "You're really scared!"

"No, I'm not," Tru ground out.

Uly grinned. "So you're not as tough as you pretend," he said. "I bet you wouldn't even put your hand in the water."

"Don't be stupid," Tru said. "The water's cold."

"It is not," Uly said. "It's not bad at all. I bet I could swim from here to the far side without any trouble. Todd did it, and I'm almost as good as he is at swimming. My swim teacher said so, and that was even when I was still sick."

"Well, woo-hoo for you," Tru said. "The rich little brat had the money to spend on hanging around in a giant tank of water. I bet it wasn't moving like this."

"So?" Uly said. "I could still swim in it. And you can't."

"Like I care," Tru said heatedly.

Uly knelt at the edge of the raft and stuck his arm in the water up to his elbow. "Betcha won't do it," he said, looking at her triumphantly. He pulled his arm out and shook it off. "You're too scared."

"Stop it, Uly," Bess said impatiently. "What?" she said into the gear, and Tru noticed the raft had slowed. Bess frowned, and looked over the front edge of the raft. "No, I can't see anything. What should I do?"

"Come on," Uly said in a stage whisper. "Just stick your hand in. How hard is that?"

Tru rolled her eyes.

"Uly! Get back from the edge—we're hung up on something!" Bess called nervously.

Uly ignored her, looking steadily at Tru. Then he very deliberately scooped up a handful of water and threw it at Tru.

Tru wiped angrily at the water streaming down her face and stood up. "You little—!"

"Uly!" Devon shouted from the far bank of the river, "Get away from the edge! NOW!"

Uly glanced nervously over at the far bank where Devon was standing.

The raft lurched suddenly, and Tru barely kept her balance. She staggered slightly, ending up close to Uly, who was looking like he'd just realized how badly he'd screwed up. Then the raft lurched even harder, and Uly lost his balance and started to tip back towards the river.

"Uly!" Tru yelled and grabbed for his hand. She caught it, and for a moment, she thought she might be able to keep him on, but the raft gave another shudder, then shot towards the bank.

And Uly went headfirst into the water with Tru right after him, still holding tightly to his hand.

* * *

"Uly!" Devon shrieked, and started to run towards the river.

"Devon, no!" Julia said, grabbing her arm.

"Bess, don't!" someone yelled. "Stay right there!"

Danziger was already sprinting past Devon. As he did, she realized he'd grabbed a length of biocord. "Uly!" he yelled, running full-tilt towards the river.

"Come on," Julia said, pulling Devon's arm. "The rail! We can get ahead of them!"

Devon hesitated for an instant, then turned and almost ran over Julia on her way to the rail. She nearly dove into the driver's seat, and Julia barely got in with her med kit before Devon had peeled out.

Devon watched in horror as Danziger threw the biocord towards Uly, only to have it fall barely a meter short. She floored the rail, zooming past Danziger as he sprinted downstream, reeling in the biocord as fast as he could.

"Devon!" Julia screamed. Devon turned back to watch where she was going and had to swerve around a large bush that was too close to the edge of the embankment for her to go around on the river side.

Julia yelped as they hit a rock and the rail bounced hard, the back end slewing around, and Devon turned violently into the skid. The rail tipped up on two wheels before it finally skidded to a stop. Devon twisted hard at the wheel, turning it around and starting back towards the river, flooring it again.

"Devon!" Julia gasped. "Slow down! You won't do Uly any good if we roll!"

Devon glanced over at the river, but she couldn't see Uly anymore. The river was getting rougher, and even as she realized it, she noticed they were starting to climb towards the rocky cliffs they'd seen downriver, and the river was narrowing. "Oh, god," she said. She slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Julia into the dash, and flung herself out of the rail.

There was no sign of either Tru or Uly when she got to the embankment running alongside the river.

* * *

_Damn you, Ulysses Adair_, Tru thought as she fought to find the surface of the water. She had no idea where it was, and she couldn't see anything in the murky water of the river. And it was cold, far colder than it had seemed when Uly had splashed her with it.

And at that thought, she realized that Uly was still holding her hand, and he was pulling insistently at it.

Tru tried to swim toward him, but she had no idea how to make herself move in the water, even if she hadn't been getting shoved around by it. Her chest was starting to hurt, and she started to get really scared. She kicked wildly with her feet, and between her efforts and Uly's her head broke the surface.

She gasped for air and ended up getting a good amount of water along with it. She coughed, and felt Uly reach around her, holding her up.

"It's…okay," Uly said, though he sounded terrified. "I…I've got you."

Tru couldn't answer. She was still coughing, and she couldn't even seem to focus on anything but breathing. She could hear her dad yelling something from far away, but even turning her head to look for him seemed to take too much effort.

She felt Uly suddenly move violently from behind her, and then he swore, using a word she was certain his mother would disapprove of. "Hurry!" he shouted. "Try aga—"

His voice cut off suddenly, and then they were spinning through the water. Tru felt Uly losing his grip, and she grabbed for his arms. He regained his grip, but even as he did, they both went under.

_If you let me drown, Uly, I will never forgive you_, Tru thought wildly, and then they broke through the surface again. But even as she caught a breath, they went under again, and for a long time, Tru's entire existence became focused on each momentary breath she could pull in. She lost track of how many times they went under, but she knew each time it was getting harder for Uly to keep her head above water. And she didn't know how to help him. Suddenly, they hit something hard. Tru heard Uly yelp, and then they went under again.

After what seemed like forever, they somehow managed to stay above water for more than an instant. Tru gulped in a ragged breath, and when they didn't go under, she started coughing.

"Quick," Uly said in her ear. "Kick…with your feet."

Tru did as she was told, still coughing raggedly, though she had no idea if her flailing legs were helping. They were floating downriver at an alarming rate, and there was a roaring sound from somewhere behind her.

"Harder!" Uly said frantically, and she felt him shift his grip so he was holding her with one arm. "Come on, come on…"

All at once, they stopped flying downstream, and Uly grunted. Tru felt his grip on her loosen, and she kicked hard.

"Don't!" he said. "Just…hold on…"

Tru turned her head and saw he'd managed to grab onto a low hanging branch from a tree, but his grip didn't look too solid. But somehow he was pulling them closer to the side of the river, and the pull of the current wasn't nearly as strong at the side.

Tru felt her foot hit something below her, and she scrabbled with her feet. All at once, she and Uly were both crawling out of the river to lie exhausted on the bank.

Tru coughed hard, feeling like she had half the river in her lungs. She rolled onto her hands and knees, coughing hard enough her ribs hurt. Uly put his hand on her back.

"Ca—can you breathe?" he asked worriedly, though he was breathing pretty raggedly himself.

Tru nodded between coughs. When she finally was able to catch her breath for a moment, she turned her head to look at him. His light brown hair was plastered to his head, the wetness making it look much darker than usual. His eyes were wide, and there was a little cut above his left eye. The blood was running down the side of his cheek, mixing with the water as it dripped off his chin. The whole effect made him look a lot older, and Tru wondered if that was what he'd look like when he was grown up. And she was suddenly very glad she might have a chance to find out.

"Thanks," she said hoarsely.

He shook his head. "My fault," he said. "I'm sorry, Tru."

"'s okay," Tru said weakly. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Uly said nervously, glancing back upstream. "We went past a bunch of big rocks before we started getting tossed around. I don't know how far down we came. I kinda lost track of things for a while."

"D'you have your gear?" she asked.

He shook his head. "It's probably still sitting where I left it on the raft. You?"

"The same," she said. "Which is probably just as well. At least we won't have to put up with your mom yelling at us about losing the gear."

He snorted. "Yeah, that's going to make so much difference," he said sarcastically. "I'm probably going to be grounded for the rest of my life."

Tru shook her head. _It's me she's going to be mad at_, she thought. _She always blames me when Uly gets into trouble and I'm around._

"I won't let her blame you for this," Uly said, clearly reaching the same conclusion. "I promise."

Tru smiled at him. "Yeah, that's going to make so much difference," she said, though there was enough humor in her voice to take out the sting. She looked around at the beach they'd washed up on. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know," Uly said. "We need to get warm, I guess."

The moment he said it, Tru realized just how cold she was. Her wet clothes were icy against her skin, and she was shivering.

"I don't suppose you know how to start a fire, do you?" Uly said with a less-than-hopeful tone to his voice.

Tru felt at the cargo pocket of her pants. She grinned. "Oh, you bet I do," she said, undoing the self-close and pulling out a laser knife, grateful that the self-close had held up against the pull of the river.

Uly's eyes went even wider. "Where'd you get that?" he said.

Tru shrugged. "Lifted it from Hardy's toolkit," she said.

Uly looked momentarily uneasy, then shrugged, grinning. "Like your dad says, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, whatever that means."

"C'mon," Tru said, getting unsteadily to her feet, and she coughed hard for a few seconds. "Let's see if we can find someplace a little sheltered and some dry wood. Then we'll figure out what to do next."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Uly said, grabbing her arm when she staggered a little.

"I'm good," she said. "It's a little hard to breathe, but it's getting better. But we need to get dry fast."

Uly nodded, and the two of them started climbing the bank away from the river. Tru looked up at the sun, which was definitely getting lower in the west, and then had a horrible thought.

"What?" Uly said, grabbing her arm when he saw how white she'd gone.

Tru started to laugh, but it turned into a rattling series of coughs. When she could breathe again, she smiled faintly. "I just realized, we could have ended up on the wrong side of the river," she said. "But we didn't."

Uly grinned. "Yeah, well, I told you I could swim to the other side."

Tru rolled her eyes. "Fine. I promise, I'll never make fun of you knowing how to swim ever again."

Uly looked skeptical.

"Hey, I didn't promise not to make fun of you at all, just about the swimming thing. Got it?" she said.

"Good," he said. "I don't know what I'd do if you actually started being nice to me all the time."

* * *

"Uly!" Devon was yelling, running along the embankment, but he didn't answer.

"Devon!" Julia said from behind her. "Come on, they've gone down past those cliffs. We can't get to them this way. We have to go back—"

"He's not dead!" Devon shouted, whirling to face the doctor.

Julia reared back, holding her hands up placatingly. "I'm not saying he is," she said emphatically. "Uly's a strong swimmer. He'll get them out. But we need to get downstream to help them. We can take the rail west, swing around south the first chance we get, and find them."

"Damn it," Danziger said, breathing hard as he caught up with them. "Damn it! I was so close!"

"He shouldn't have been so close to the edge!" Devon said furiously. "I told him!"

"Devon—" Julia began.

"This is all your fault!" Devon snapped at Danziger.

"Me!?" Danziger said hotly. "What the hell did I do?"

"If you were better about disciplining your daughter—" Devon started to say.

"My—what the—?" Danziger sputtered. "It was your son—!"

"Stop it!" Julia shouted desperately. "Both of you! Yelling at each other isn't going to do Uly or Tru any good!"

Devon looked for a moment like she wanted to continue, but she stopped.

"Come on, we need to get going," Julia said insistently. She slapped at her gear as she turned and ran for the rail. "Melanie, I want you to take a couple of people and see if there's any way you can get south past those cliffs on foot," she said. "Devon and Danziger and I are going to take the rail and see if we can get around them to the west. Stay in touch on gear. And make sure you have some of the terricillin. I'm betting they'll have both gotten some river water in them, and if so, I want you to dose them with that if you can get to them. Ten millligrams, with the hypo. And an immune booster. Got it?"

"Yeah," Melanie said. "Do you have weapons?"

Julia glanced into the back of the rail. "Two mag pros," she said.

"And a handgun," Danziger added, climbing into the driver's seat. "We're good to go."

"Be careful," Melanie said, but Julia had already closed the channel.

* * *

It was Uly who found a spot for them to rest. There was a hollow space worn into the rocks behind a clump of trees that shielded them from most of the wind. Tru sat down heavily with her back against the rock.

"You wait here," Uly said. "I'll get some wood."

Tru shook her head and started to get up. "We should stick together." But she was having a hard time getting to her feet, and when Uly put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, she sagged back against the rock.

"I won't go far. I promise," Uly said insistently, and Tru could tell he was worried about her.

_I'm worried, too_, she thought. She'd been coughing every few breaths for the last ten minutes, and she couldn't believe how tired she was after only a few minutes of hiking. "Okay," she said finally. "Stay close enough I can hear you, though. There's plenty of wood around."

Uly nodded and trotted off under the low-hanging branches of the trees.

Tru closed her eyes, trying hard not to think about how scared she'd been in the water. As annoyed as she was with Uly for getting them into this situation, she was far more grateful to him for saving her from that river. She took a shallow breath, trying not to start another series of coughs. "Uly? You there?"

"Yeah," he called. "I'm fine." He came back moments later with an armful of wood. "This'll be enough for a while, won't it?" he said, setting it down in front of her.

Tru nodded and pulled out the laser knife. She stacked the wood in the little pyramid shape her father had taught her and then turned the knife on and stuck it into the largest piece of wood and wiggled it till the wood started to smoke. She held it there for a few seconds longer, till she saw flames, and then took some of the smaller bits of wood and stuck them into the pile just over the flames. She repeated the process in a couple of other spots until she was certain the fire was going to take, and then turned the knife off and leaned tiredly back against the rock.

"Are you okay?" Uly said timidly.

Tru nodded, afraid to answer because it might start her coughing again. It felt like she had an airlock door closing on her chest. The last few times she'd coughed, the middle of her chest felt like it was on fire.

"Why don't you take off your shirt so it can dry faster?" Uly said, stripping off his and draping it over one of the branches hanging above the fire.

Tru thought about it for a moment and wasn't sure she had the energy.

"Tru?" Uly said.

"In a minute," she said, and immediately started coughing. She leaned forward, hoping that would help get whatever was in her lungs out, but it didn't help. She felt Uly's hand on her back, rubbing in circles, and was absurdly grateful for it, even though it didn't seem to make any difference.

"I'm really sorry," Uly said when she finally subsided. He sounded miserable.

"Stop," Tru said, trying to get her breath. "Can't stay mad…if you keep…doing that."

"Why do you think I'm doing it?" Uly said, and he sounded a little less shaky. "What do you need me to do?"

Tru sat up slowly, trying to keep her breathing steady, then shook her head. After a few minutes of silence, she felt like she could try talking again. "Sorry," she said. "It's a little hard…to talk."

"Yeah," Uly said. "What should we do now?"

Tru shook her head again. "I don't think…I can do much right now," she said.

Uly nodded. "Maybe you'll be better in a while," he said hopefully. He patted her back, then stood up. "I'm gonna get more wood. You're too cold." He trotted off again before she could stop him.

Tru felt a little better by the time he got back with an armful of wood big enough to hide his head. He dumped it near the fire and started to add pieces to the fire, building it till the heat was almost uncomfortable. "That's good," she said. "Save some for later." He looked dubious. "I'm warm enough, Uly," she said, and it was true—her shirt was already almost dry, and the fire felt wonderful. "And I feel a little better now. Really."

"I was thinking," he said. "Maybe, if you think you're up to it, we should try to head back upstream. We can't be that far away, right?"

"You said you couldn't tell how far down we came," Tru said uneasily. "What if we're kilometers away?"

"But we'll get found a lot faster if we're headed back towards the others," Uly said. "We could maybe get part way back before it gets too dark."

Tru shook her head. "We have a sheltered spot here, and we've already started a fire. We're better off staying here until it gets light at least. And even then, I think we should stay here."

"But why?" Uly protested.

"It's what my dad told me to do," Tru said stubbornly. "If I got separated from the group, I was supposed to stay put and wait for him to find me."

Uly snorted. "You, doing as you're told? That's a new one."

Tru glared at him, but before she could start to respond, she was hit by another round of coughing. Uly looked at her, concerned at the wince she gave after the last cough had passed.

"What?" Tru gasped, looking at him and frowning.

"You don't sound so good," he said. "I used to get like that—it's bad when the coughs sound juicy. We need to get you back to Julia."

"I'm okay," she said. "Look, you know they're coming to find us, right? So what'll they do? They'll go as far along the river as they can. If they can get past those big rocks you said we went past, they'll come right to us. But what if they can't, or we can't?" She stopped and made herself take a slow, careful breath as Uly considered that. "They'll have to go around, and we could miss them. Do you really want your mom running around by herself with the Terriers around?"

"She won't be by herself," Uly protested. "You know there's no way your dad would let her go alone."

"You know what I mean," Tru said. "Even if they bring more than just the two of them, they still have to leave people to take care of the camp. What if they run into another bunch of Council guys? Or even just another pack of those hexadents?"

"Okay, okay," Uly said, raising his hands placatingly. "We'll stay here." _It's probably good anyway_, he thought, suddenly thinking about what she'd said. _If Mom can run into Council agents or Terriers or hexadents, so can we_. He glanced nervously out at the darkness surrounding them.

* * *

"How's Bess?" Valerie asked, coming up to where Toshiko was standing by the Transrover waiting for Melanie to call in.

Toshiko shrugged, blinking back tears. "She thinks it's her fault," she said. "How would you be?"

Valerie nodded glumly. "I'm just glad she didn't go in after them—I really thought she was going to there for a minute," she said.

"She keeps saying she should have," Toshiko said. "God, why did it have to be them?"

"Tosh," Melanie called over the gear. "It's no good. These cliffs just keep getting taller, and the drop-off by the river is too sharp. We're not getting through this way. It's up to Devon now."

Toshiko closed her eyes. "It's okay," she said, hearing the dismay in Melanie's voice. "She'll understand."

"I wouldn't," Melanie said grimly. "But I'll call Julia and let her know. Maybe she can help."

"I'll talk to Yale," Toshiko said. "If anybody can help, it'll be him."

"I'll go find him," Valerie said quickly. "God knows I need something to do." She headed for where the others had already begun setting up camp. They'd gotten Devon's tent up first, and Valerie wondered briefly if they were hoping that might somehow bring Uly back sooner.

"Yale, are you in there?" Valerie called from outside the tent. She frowned when there was no response after several seconds. "Yale?"

"Yes," Yale said, pulling aside the tent flap.

"Sorry," Valerie said nervously. "I just wanted to let you know, Melanie and her team are coming back. They couldn't get through. I thought maybe you might want to talk to Devon when they call in next."

Yale frowned. "There has been no more word from Devon?"

Valerie shook her head. She hesitated for a moment. Yale looked weird, but given how upset everyone in camp was, that might not mean anything. "Are you okay?"

"I am…fine," Yale said. "Call me on the gear when you talk to Devon next." He lowered the tent flap.

Valerie pulled back, frowning, then shook herself. _Everybody deals with stress differently_, she thought.

Yale turned to stare blindly at his bunk. He'd checked his internal chronometer when he finally noticed Valerie's voice. _Ten minutes_, he thought fearfully. _I've lost ten minutes, and I don't know how._

* * *

"Danziger, we have to stop," Julia finally said from the back seat of the rail after they'd been rolling through the dark for over an hour. An hour of angry silence that had left Julia almost ready to scream just to hear something.

"We still have ten percent!" Devon said angrily.

"And we could miss them in the dark," Julia said. "They're smart kids, Devon. They'll find shelter, stay warm, and we'll find them first thing in the morning, okay?"

Danziger slowed the rail, bringing it to a reluctant halt. "She's right," he muttered. "Better to stop while we have a little charge so we can get started early in the morning."

Devon slammed her hand against the roll bar of the rail.

"We'll find them," Julia said, putting her hand on Devon's shoulder.

Devon pulled away violently, climbing out of the rail and stalking away from it to stand staring into the darkness, her shoulders hunched and her arms held tight around her.

Julia sighed, wishing she knew what to say. She was trying to stay hopeful, but she'd seen the strength of the current. _Todd could fight his way through it, but Uly? Especially trying to hold onto Tru?_

She forced that thought aside, climbing out of the rail and pulling the med kit out. "Let's get a fire started," she said to Danziger. "Maybe, if they're close, they'll see it."

"Yeah," he muttered, and he sounded like he was having the same dark thoughts she was.

Devon didn't move while they got the fire going. Julia thought briefly about trying to talk to her, but she was afraid it would just start another argument. At least as long as she wasn't talking, she wasn't saying hateful things to Danziger.

She'd started to go off again when they got the call from Melanie that she, Todd and Rick were turning back. "Todd wants to try climbing the rocks," Melanie had said, "but it's too steep. And who knows what we'd be looking at getting down the other side. I'm sorry, but we can't get through."

The look of fury on Devon's face when she'd looked over at Danziger had been frightening. "If we don't—" she'd started to say.

"We'll find them," Julia had said, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. "They'll be fine. We just need to focus on getting to them as quickly as we can. Devon, please!"

Danziger hadn't said a word, just started up the rail again, his jaw clenched so tightly Julia was afraid he'd hurt himself. They'd found a way through the steep hills a little while later, and Julia had hoped it might ease the tension, but if anything it had gotten worse as it got dark.

And now Danziger was sitting staring into the fire as though he could reach into it and find Tru. Julia ached for him. _It isn't fair_, she thought desolately. _To get this far without losing anyone, and then to have it be Tru and Uly…_

"What was that?" Devon said sharply, backing towards the fire.

Danziger looked up sharply and grabbed the mag-pro at his side. "Get back by the fire, Adair," he growled.

"Be careful," Julia said, picking up the other mag-pro as Devon backed towards them. "It could be the kids."

But even as she said it, she knew it wasn't. She heard the familiar throaty growl of a hexadent, and then all hell broke loose. There were at least three of the hexadents that Julia could see. Two of them sped in towards the fire. Danziger fired at them, and they darted away.

"Goddamn it, Adair, get out of the line of fire!" Danziger yelled. Devon scrambled backwards, and Danziger grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her behind him. "Here!" he said, shoving the handgun into her hands. "Safety off, point, shoot!"

Julia turned as she saw movement to her left, but she hesitated, afraid to shoot anything for fear it could be Uly or Tru. Then she saw flashing teeth, and she fired wildly. She was certain she hadn't hit anything, but the hexadent peeled away, disappearing into the darkness.

One of the hexadents howled in pain after a mag-pro shot, and Julia scanned the darkness for motion, knowing getting one wasn't going to be nearly enough, no matter how good a shot Danziger was.

There was more motion back towards where Danziger was standing, and Julia turned to make sure he was covered. She fired into the night, hoping to scare them off even if she didn't hit anything.

"Julia, behind you!" Devon said frantically, and even as Julia turned, she could hear the movement. All at once, Danziger whirled, lifted the muzzle of his mag-pro up and over Julia's head, brought it down and fired as the hexadent launched itself at her.

It went down hard, not moving, and Danziger glanced back at Devon, who had her handgun pointed at it. "For god's sake, Adair, pull the goddamned trigger next time!" he snapped.

Devon looked stricken, but he'd already turned to scan the dark beyond the fire. Julia made herself do the same, but apparently taking out two had been enough. She could hear furtive movement in the darkness, but it was getting fainter, and after several seconds, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't get cocky, kid," Danziger said, watching carefully. "Those things are persistent." He glanced back at Devon. "Make yourself useful. Take a couple of those branches from the fire and put them out a little farther. We'll make a perimeter with the fire for the night."

Julia winced at his harsh tone, but Devon just nodded, looking sick, and did as he'd said. She gathered some more wood from the nearby brush and added it, slowly creating a surprisingly intimidating line of fire.

Danziger kept his mag-pro ready, making sure she was covered as she worked, and Julia mimicked his approach, keeping her eyes on the darkness, though she knew she was nearly useless when she thought about how quickly he'd moved to protect her.

Once Devon had made several flaming piles a couple of meters around the rail, Danziger finally seemed to relax a little. "Don't make them too big," he said after Devon seemed inclined to create an unbroken line of fire.

"Why not?" Julia asked, thinking the security of the fire would be deeply reassuring.

Danziger glanced back at her, and his expression was bleak. "I'd rather have them thinking they might still have a shot at us…" he said, and then trailed off.

_Oh, god_, Julia thought, suddenly realizing that if they were still alive, Tru and Uly were out there, all alone, with no weapons, no way of defending themselves at all.

Devon made a strangled noise, and for a horrible moment, Julia was afraid she was going to run off into the night after Uly, but she flung down the last branch she held, turned and looked at Julia. "I'm sorry," she said harshly. "I should have…"

"Oh, don't," Julia said, lowering her mag-pro. "Devon, don't. You—"

"Yeah, you should've," Danziger said tiredly. "But you didn't." He looked at her, his expression stony. "One of these days you're gonna have to, though."

Devon looked at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable, then she turned and sat down by their original fire.

_It's going to be a long night_, Julia thought.

* * *

Tru woke up with her head pounding. "Uly?" she called, not seeing him in their little hollow.

There was no answer. Tru sat up, and immediately started coughing again, so hard she felt like her ribs were going to come apart. The coughs finally subsided, and Tru considered trying to get to her feet, but she knew she shouldn't leave their shelter. The last thing they needed was both of them wandering around looking for each other. "Uly!"

There was a throaty growl from somewhere to her left, and Tru whipped her head around, her heart pounding.

"I'm coming," Uly called from somewhere off toward the river. "Don't worry."

Tru grabbed the laser knife out of her pocket and turned it on. _Please, Uly, take your time_, she thought, and then she saw the hexadent's eyes.

Uly heard Tru scream. He froze for an instant, and then broke into a run, though he had no idea what he'd be able to do with nothing more than a soggy t-shirt in his hands.

He skidded under the tree branches and nearly toppled into the fire. There was an enormous hexadent lying near the fire, and Tru was underneath it.

"Tru!" he gasped. "Oh, god, please don't be dead! I shouldn't have left—oh, no, Tru! Say something!"

"Not dead," Tru said, her voice muffled. "Get it off!"

Uly carefully set the wet t-shirt on a bare rock, then scrambled over to try to shove the hexadent off her. It took some doing—it was easily as big as she was, and a lot more dense. He found her laser knife was buried to the hilt in its neck when he finally was able to roll it off.

Tru lay where she'd fallen, breathing hard.

"Tru?" Uly said, leaning over her, his hands fluttering. "Are you all right?"

She shook her head.

"Did it bite you? Where? Are you bleeding?" He looked up and down her, but he didn't see any wounds.

"No," she said finally. She looked up at him, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "I'm really tired, Uly."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry! You were sleeping, and then you started to shiver, even though the fire was hot, and I was scared you were getting a fever. So I ran down to the river to get you some water, and…I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have left you alone!"

"You have water?" Tru whispered, suddenly so thirsty she could barely stand it.

"Yes!" Uly said, grabbing his soggy T-shirt. "Yes! Sorry, it's gonna taste a little like me, and it's unfiltered, but it's the best I can do." He held it for her and squeezed a pathetic dribble into her mouth.

Tru sighed after swallowing.

"You killed it," Uly said, staring in amazement at the hexadent, and then turning to look at her. "All by yourself, you killed it."

Tru shook her head weakly. "It was already hurt," she murmured. "Is there more water?"

Uly was able to get another couple of mouthfuls for her out of the t-shirt. "Thanks," she said. "I really needed that." The relief in Uly's eyes was worth the effort it took her to get the words out.

He patted her forehead with the cold, wet t-shirt, and it felt wonderful. She let her eyes close again.

"It's okay, Tru," Uly said. "Just sleep. I'll be right here. I won't leave you."

* * *

Alonzo sat on a rock just outside of the camp, standing watch. There'd been no more word from Danziger on the search for Tru and Uly, and Alonzo had to admit to himself that he was worried about Julia almost as much as he was about the kids. He'd been avoiding her since he'd yelled at her, and a big part of that was because he felt guilty about it.

_Let it go_, he told himself. But that wasn't going to happen. He really couldn't blame her for thinking what she did. He hadn't done himself any favors by driving off alone in the ATV the way he had—if Hardy had done it, he knew he would have thought he'd gone off to contact the Council the way Julia used to.

And she'd seemed genuinely hurt by the argument. He remembered the look in her eyes when he'd said he loved her. _She does care_, he thought, _in spite of everything. _But somehow, that thought just made him feel even worse.

He heard a noise off to his left and whipped the mag-pro around, scanning the darkness. He was about to flip on his flashlight when he heard a voice.

"I don't believe in killing unarmed people," the voice said, and Alonzo recognized it with a jolt. He flipped on the flashlight, and there was Yale, standing motionless a few meters away. He didn't even seem to notice the bright light of the flashlight.

"Yale?" Alonzo said.

"Please, let me help," Yale said, with an unexpected accent completely unlike his normal pattern, but one that still seemed strangely familiar. "If we can get you to the sector four surface airlock—" He broke off suddenly, and turned, raising his hand to shield his face from the flashlight beam. "Who is there?" he said, and his voice was back to normal.

"What do you think you're doing?" Alonzo said angrily.

"I—I do not know," Yale said, and his voice sounded shaky.

"What was that you were just saying?" Alonzo persisted, limping down the hill towards him.

"I said something?" Yale said, and even in the dim light, Alonzo could see how terrified he looked. "What…what did I say?"

"Don't play games with me!" Alonzo snapped. "Why the hell were you playing that recording?"

Yale looked around wildly. "Alonzo, I do not know how I got here," he said. "What recording? If I said something, I need to know what it was. I am not playing games!"

Alonzo frowned. "What the hell is going on?"

Yale looked anguished. "I am becoming unstable," he said. "I keep having blackouts, lost time, and sometimes, I say things. Please, Alonzo, tell me what I said!"

"Something about not believing in killing unarmed people," Alonzo said, blinking in surprise at his desperation. "And getting somebody to the sector four airlock." He looked hard at Yale. "Where is sector four?"

"I don't know," Yale said. "I have to go. I must speak to Julia." He paused, looking even more upset. "No, she is not here." He looked helplessly at Alonzo, then turned and almost ran back towards the camp, muttering, "Perhaps I can reach her on gear."

_Could Julia be using Yale to find out more?_ he thought, baffled by what he'd just heard. He shook his head. _No, that makes no sense. If she knew anything about that recording, she'd have confronted me with it directly. But Yale obviously knows everything—the reference to the sector four exit is too specific…and there's no question that was Biko's voice. Even after eighty years, I'd recognize it anywhere._

_What the __hell__ is going on?_ he thought.

* * *

Uly jolted awake to the sound of Tru taking whooping, heaving breaths. She had sat up, and even in the dim light of the early morning, he could see her skin was almost blue.

"Tru?" he said, scrambling over to her.

She coughed violently, and she held her arms around her tight, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Tru, look at me," Uly said insistently. He grabbed her by both arms, shaking her slightly.

Tru could barely hear him, could barely think through the hurt of the coughing, but she opened her eyes.

"Keep looking at me, okay? Listen to my voice," he said, holding her shoulders tightly. "I know you're scared. But you can breathe if you calm down. I want you to try to breathe in like you're breathing through a straw." He demonstrated, sipping in air. "Breathe with me like that."

Tru tried, but it was so hard. She felt like she had in the river, like there wasn't any air, just water all around her. She could feel her heart pounding, and her vision started to go gray around the edges.

"Tru!" Uly snapped. "Look at me! Focus!" Tru's eyes wavered, and he glared at her. "Come on, Tru, I was doing this when I was five! This is easy!" He almost cheered when he saw the flash of anger in her eyes. "Through a straw," he said again, sipping the air. He nodded at her encouragingly as she managed to get a shaky sipped breath in. "Now out the same way, slow and steady. Part of the problem is you're not getting the bad air out. Get rid of all of it, okay?"

She blew air out longer than she'd thought possible given how desperate she was for air.

"That's it," Uly said, smiling in relief. "Again. In. Slow."

The next breath in wasn't as slow as Uly wanted, but it felt wonderful, and breathing out was easier. She managed to get two more breaths before she coughed again, but she was able to breathe more evenly after the cough.

"See? Easier, right?" Uly said, squeezing her shoulders.

Tru nodded weakly.

"Keep it up," Uly said. "It usually takes a while to get your heart rate down. Just keep breathing slow, through a straw. Think about your heart beating slower." He smiled weakly at her. "Is there someplace you can think of that makes you happy?"

Tru wasn't sure she could think at all, but she suddenly remembered her bedroom when she was small. Before her mom died. Her dad was getting ready to leave for a long time, and before he left he had decorated the whole thing in pink. It had looked like somebody had thrown up cotton candy. She hated pink, but her dad had been so pleased with himself, she hadn't had the heart to tell him. She'd just stood and stared at the sea of hideous pink.

"Good," Uly said quietly. "Keep thinking about that. Breathe in, slowly. And out."

Pink comforter, and a breath in. Pink bunny rabbit slippers, and a breath out.

"Okay, that's good," Uly said. He reached over and put the last of the wood onto the barely-smoldering fire, then shifted around so he was behind her. "Lean back against me." He put his arms around her shoulders carefully, and she was suddenly so tired she couldn't hold her head up. "It's okay," Uly said. "You can go to sleep now. I've got you."

She tried to keep her eyes open a little longer, to thank Uly for helping her, but she was drifting off in pink clouds. _Maybe pink's not so bad after all…_

Her head fell back against his shoulder, and he could tell she was already asleep. He could feel her radiating heat, but she was shivering slightly. He reached up carefully, trying not to disturb her, and pulled his shirt off the branch above the fire where he'd hung it to dry. He draped it over her, tucking the sides in around her, wishing he had something more he could offer.

_This is bad_, he thought, trying to keep his own heart rate from jumping. _She needs help, __now__. Come on, Mom! Where __are__ you?_


	6. Chapter 6

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 6

* * *

_A/N: Yes, I know, Devon seemed a little out of control in the last chapter, but we did see her do similar things in the show, and people do all sorts of crazy stuff when they're freaked out over their kids. Plus, I needed it to set up some stuff later on. I never do things like that just for the sake of doing them._

* * *

"Danziger, you have to go slower," Julia said insistently from the back seat of the rail. "The scanner doesn't have that much range. If you keep going like this, we could miss them."

Danziger looked like he wanted to strangle her, but he slowed down. Julia kept her eyes on the scanner, looking for the faintest hint of a human life sign. They'd been driving for nearly four hours, making it as far as the river, and then turning back to the north along the riverbank. At one point they'd had to stop for a short time to recharge the rail because they'd started too soon before sunrise. Julia had been afraid Devon or Danziger or both would just go off on foot, but they both just paced back and forth in what would have been comically identical motions if the situation hadn't been so awful.

Julia swallowed hard, trying to keep her focus. _Look_, she thought suddenly, _if there's anything out there that can help us, now is the time. Terrier, God, I don't care what. Just help us find those kids. Whatever it takes, I'll give it. Anything you want. Anything._ She resisted the urge to close her eyes, and moments later, she was glad she had.

"Hold up!" she said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. "I might have something!" She studied the scanner, trying to make sense out of the readings. It wasn't designed to provide direction, but she got a slightly clearer signal when she turned it a little to the west, away from the river. "That way, I think," she said, pointing, and she heard Devon take a ragged breath. "Go slow."

Danziger started up again, moving in the direction she'd indicated, and Julia almost cheered as the signal became stronger. "It's them," she said, glancing up to smile at Devon. "Both of them. They can't be far."

"ULY!" Devon yelled at the top of her lungs. "ULY!"

"Mom?" a faint voice called.

Danziger slammed on the brakes and was out of the rail before the echo faded. Julia scrambled out, grabbing the med kit, but by the time she'd fought through low hanging tree branches to catch up with them, Devon already had her arms around both kids.

"Tru?" Danziger said, hovering over them, sounding worried.

"Julia!" Uly called, catching sight of her and trying to push his mother away. "Hurry! She's really sick!"

Julia shoved her diaglove on and knelt next to the two kids. Uly had Tru in his arms, and she was barely responsive.

"She was coughing really bad," Uly said in a rush. "I had to help her breathe—you know how Yale does, the biofeedback stuff, and that helped for a while, but she's really having a hard time, and she's hot. She kept shivering all night, and—"

"It's okay, Uly," Julia said, studying the scans. "You did great." She pulled out a hypo, and Tru stirred when Julia injected her.

"Dad?" she said weakly, turning her head to look at him, and then she coughed. Devon felt her heart sink as she realized it was the kind of cough Uly'd had the time he'd almost died from pneumonia. She shot Julia a nervous look.

"Here, Tru," Julia said, putting an oxygen mask over her face. "This'll help. You just rest now, okay?"

"I'm here, Tru-girl," Danziger said, lifting her carefully out of Uly's grasp and enfolding her in his arms. "I've got you."

"Thanks…for the pink," Tru murmured. "My…pink…"

Danziger looked confused for a long moment, then beamed. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Are you hurt?" Devon asked Uly, looking hard at him. He looked awful, with a gash on his forehead and a long trail of dried blood along the side of his face, but he ignored her, his attention entirely on Tru.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Julia smiled reassuringly at him. "She's going to be fine, Uly. She just has some congestion in her lungs. The oxygen will help." She glanced over at Devon. "I think we'd better plan on staying here for a bit, though," she said. "I want to be sure she's stable before we put her through the strain of riding in the rail."

Devon nodded.

"Are you sure?" Uly said. "She sounded awful last night, and then there was the hexadent—"

"The what?" Devon said sharply.

"She killed it," Uly said, his eyes wide. "With just a little knife."

Danziger closed his eyes, then opened them, leaned over and kissed his daughter on the forehead.

"It was just a little one," Tru said faintly.

"It was huge!" Uly said, pointing at the carcass a few meters away, and Devon's heart went from the bottom of her stomach straight into her throat as she stared at its massive body. "I went for water, and I didn't know it was there—I never should have left her, I really screwed up, Mom, and I'm really sorry, it was all my fault—the raft, the river, everything. It's my fault she's so sick! Don't be mad at her, please?"

"I'm not mad," Devon said, pulling Uly into a hug. "I'm just so glad you're both alive." She reached over and took Tru's hand, squeezing it gently. "Thank you, Tru. And I'm sorry."

Tru blinked sleepily at her, then frowned, looking confused. "For what?"

Devon smiled at her. "I'll explain it later," she said.

Julia worked on Tru for another hour, dosing her with at least three additional medications as she monitored their effect with the diaglove, and then she turned and looked after Uly. By the time she'd finished, it was already mid-afternoon. Julia recommended that they stay put till morning. That would give the rail a chance to get fully-charged, give Tru time to get a little more rest, and they'd have a full day to make it back to the others.

The feeling of relief Devon felt when Julia said Uly would be fine reminded Devon that they needed to give the others the good news. Devon tapped her gear to open a channel. "Hey, Melanie! We found them!"

Static.

"Mel?" Devon said, frowning. She tried adjusting the frequency, but still got only static. At one point, she thought she might have caught something that could have been a voice, but it was gone the next second.

"What is it?" Julia said, turning from Tru to look at her.

"I can't get through on the gear," Devon said. "Try yours."

But neither Julia's nor Danziger's worked any better than hers. "There must be something interfering with the signal," Danziger said.

"Something?" Julia said uneasily. "Or someone?"

Danziger shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said quietly, stroking Tru's hair gently. "Does it matter?"

Julia glanced down at Tru, then sighed. "No. I wouldn't feel comfortable moving Tru until I'm sure she's stable anyway."

Devon nodded. "I'll go to go down to the river and see if maybe the signal's better there," she said. "Uly? Do you want to come with me?"

Uly hesitated, looking worriedly at Tru.

"She'll be fine, Uly," Julia said reassuringly. "And I'd feel better if you were there to watch your mom's back."

"Take the handgun," Danziger said to Uly, who looked surprised and pleased.

Devon looked uneasy, but she grabbed one of the mag-pros. Danziger snorted under his breath, and Devon looked sharply at him. She turned and pushed her way past the low-hanging branches with Uly at her heels.

Julia looked down at her diaglove, trying to decide whether to say anything.

"You don't have to say it," Danziger said, and Julia looked up at him, surprised. "I know I'm being an asshole. But you know she screwed up."

Julia looked steadily at him. "About what? The gun, or her blaming you for what happened?"

Danziger returned her look with a hint of defiance. "Both."

Julia sighed. "So you're going to rub her nose in it?" She shifted to sit with her legs crossed beside the remnants of Tru and Uly's fire. "Trust me, she's doing enough of that to herself. The last thing she needs is—"

"And why would I give a rat's ass what she needs right now?" Danziger said, his voice rising.

"Dad?" Tru said, opening her eyes.

"Sorry, Tru-girl," Danziger said, squeezing her. "Go back to sleep."

Julia got up and stepped out of the hollow to watch for Devon and Uly.

* * *

"Devon? Julia?" Melanie said, frowning as she tried to figure out what she was hearing. "Is that you?" There was a weird distortion in the background static, but that was about all she could make out. "Listen, if you can hear me, turn your gear off then on twice, okay?"

She flipped her eyepiece into place so she could look at the gear locator. The dots for Devon, Danziger and Julia were all flickering oddly, and Devon's was some distance from the others. But then Devon's dot disappeared entirely, then came back, then did it again. Melanie sighed in relief. "Okay, I got that. Are you okay?"

"Mel?" Devon's voice came through for an instant. "…hear me?"

"Yeah!" Melanie said. "Devon, did you find the kids? Are they okay?"

"…fine. Tru's got…" The rest was lost in another hail of static.

"Say again," Melanie said.

"…both okay!" Devon shouted, and Melanie winced. "…back some…morrow"

Melanie's heart leaped, but she wanted to be certain before she let anybody else get their hopes up. "Confirm that," she said. "The kids are okay? Uly and Tru are both all right?"

"…s, yes, they're okay!"

"Oh, thank God!" Melanie said. "Everybody!" she yelled, putting her hand over the gear mic, "they found the kids! They're okay!"

Valerie came running up. "Where are they?"

Melanie shook her head. "I'm not sure, the signal's completely crap. There's something interfering. I think she's hearing me better than I'm hearing her."

"…where you are," Devon was saying. "…here till Tru's…then we…tomorrow."

"Got it," Melanie said. "We'll be right here, okay? And we'll have a big party waiting!"

"I'm gonna go tell Bess," Valerie said, grinning at Melanie.

* * *

"Well, at least they know you're okay," Devon said, smiling at Uly. "At least I think they do."

Uly barely acknowledged her. He was holding the handgun ready, scanning the area around them with a single-minded intensity.

"Okay, tiger, let's head back," Devon said, trying to ignore the sick feeling of inadequacy sitting in the pit of her stomach. She lifted the mag-pro and started up the hill.

Julia was waiting for them outside the shelter of branches. "Did you get through?" she said.

Devon nodded. "They know we'll be coming back in the morning. I told them to wait where they are. Mel said something about a party."

Julia looked relieved. "I'll bet," she said. "I wish we could head back now."

"How is Tru doing?" Uly said.

"Better," Julia said. "Between the terricillin and some of the standard pneumonia treatments I have, her O2 sats are improving already. She'll feel pretty awful for a few days, but she'll be fine."

Uly didn't look convinced, and he scampered past Julia to go see for himself. Devon started after him, but Julia put her hand on her arm to stop her. "Devon, Danziger didn't mean—" she began to say very quietly, but Devon shook her head sharply.

"He meant it," she said tersely. "And he has every right to be angry with me. But I don't want to hash it out in front of the kids, especially with Tru still so sick, okay?"

Julia pursed her lips, but nodded.

* * *

Bess burst into the mess tent where Melanie was monitoring the comm system. "Is it true?" she said without preamble.

Melanie smiled. "Absolutely," she said. "Even if I hadn't been able to get confirmation from Devon directly, I'd have known from the sound of her voice."

Morgan came into the tent just in time to grab Bess as her legs nearly went out from under her. He helped her over to one of the benches as she burst into tears. Morgan looked worriedly over at Melanie. "What's wrong? Did Devon call in again or something?"

"No," Melanie said, looking helplessly at him. "The kids are fine, I swear!"

"'m okay," Bess said, or at least that's what Melanie thought she said, though through the noisy sobs, it was hard to tell. "I'm just…so…happy!"

"See, Bess, I told you they'd be okay," Morgan said, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Hey, M—" Rob's voice came over the gear, almost swallowed in static. "…you hear me?"

"Barely," Melanie said.

"…on…higher…" There was a long gap with nothing at all, then his voice came through more clearly. "Is that better?"

"Much," Melanie said.

"It's something in the hills that's interfering with the signal," Rob said. "As long as you're high enough, the signal can get through. It took us almost an hour to get up here."

"What's the deal?" Melanie asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Rob said. "Is Devon back yet?"

"Not yet," Melanie said, "but we did hear from her. The kids are okay."

"Thank god," Rob breathed. "Did you hear that, Sergei?" he said. "Uly and Tru are okay."

"What was so important you had to call in? You're not in trouble, are you?"

"No," Rob said. "We've got some good news, too. We found another supply pod!"

Melanie sighed in relief. _Well_, she thought, _it's about time our luck turned around._

* * *

Devon fully intended to talk to Danziger once the kids were both asleep, but he didn't seem inclined to leave Tru's side. He sat with her in his arms for over four hours, till he couldn't stay in that position any longer. Then he'd told them to get some sleep, that he'd take the first watch, and his tone had been so cold, Devon couldn't seem to make herself get up and go out to apologize to him. He'd stood just out of view beyond the branches and hadn't made a sound the entire time he'd been on watch, and every moment of silence had felt like a reproach to her.

Devon added another branch to the fire and poked at it with her stick, sending up a small shower of sparks that floated off into the cold night air. She glanced over at Danziger, who somehow had managed to fall asleep curled up around Tru within seconds after getting Devon up for her turn at watch. He was snoring, almost loudly enough to drown out the ominous sound of Tru's wheezing.

Devon envied him. She hadn't slept at all, though she'd tried not to let it show. Part of it was her worry for Tru. But most of it was her guilt over how badly she'd handled things with Danziger, and how she'd nearly gotten Julia killed. She knew if she was honest with herself, the main reason she hadn't apologized to him yet was because she knew she deserved the punishment he was giving her.

"God, what am I doing?" she muttered to herself.

"I'd say you were poking a fire, but I don't think that's what you meant," Julia said, opening her eyes and propping herself on an elbow.

"Oh, hell, I'm sorry," Devon said quietly. "I didn't mean to wake you."

Julia smiled wryly. "It's okay, I was about as asleep as you've been for the last three hours."

Devon winced.

"So," Julia said after a long silence, "do you want to talk about it?"

"Have you ever wanted to when I asked you that question?" Devon said.

"No," Julia said, then smiled faintly, "but that never stopped you."

Devon closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head. "Touché."

"Devon, nobody would hold what happened yesterday against you," Julia said after a moment. "You care deeply about Uly, and you were terrified. We all were."

"That's not it," Devon said, shaking her head. "At least not all of it."

Julia waited for her to continue, then sighed. "So…?" she prompted, and when Devon still didn't respond, "Look, you're going to have to start. I'm terrible at conversation, or so I'm told."

"I'm a complete fraud," Devon whispered, suddenly unable to keep the thought to herself. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing."

"What do you mean?" Julia said, sitting up and scooting closer.

"I mean this," Devon said, gesturing to take in Uly and Tru and Danziger. "I mean all of it. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. We were supposed to land safely at New Pacifica, and O'Neill was going to be the guy in charge. I just raised money and gave speeches. I don't know the first thing about running a colony, let alone the kind of situation we're in."

"And you've done such a terrible job of it so far," Julia said, her face deadpan.

"Come on, Julia, we've been running from one crisis to another," Devon said impatiently. "It's a miracle we've made it this far."

"I suppose so," Julia said slowly. "But what did you think would happen?"

Devon frowned at her.

"We all got thrown into a completely unexpected situation," Julia said insistently. "Do you really think O'Neill would have been able to keep all that from happening?"

"Maybe not all of it," Devon said reluctantly. "But he sure would have handled it better than I have. Hell, half the people in the group would have."

Julia studied her for a moment. "Really? Name one."

"Danziger," Devon said immediately. "And you. You both kept me from being a complete idiot yesterday."

Julia shook her head sharply. "I'd be awful, and you know it," she said. "I'm terrible at delegating—I always try to do everything myself, and I end up making everyone think I don't trust them. And don't get me started on my decision-making." She shook her head again. "And as much as I respect Danziger, I don't think he'd be any better than you. It's one thing to follow orders. It's a completely different thing to give them."

Devon stared into the fire, clearly unconvinced.

"Devon, you're not giving yourself nearly enough credit for what you've done," Julia said. "There's not a person in Eden Advance who'd tell you anything different."

"What makes you so sure?" Devon said bitterly.

"Because if there was somebody better than you around, we'd have put them in charge already," Julia said bluntly. "This is a group of very smart, capable people, as you and Melanie have both pointed out to me. Don't you think if they thought they could do better, they would have by now?"

"Maybe they can't do better than me," Devon said, "but I'm not sure that's good news."

Julia smiled. "You have a point," she said. "But…look, you respect Danziger, don't you?"

Devon winced again. "Of course I do, though you wouldn't know it from the way I treat him."

"Let's leave that aside for now," Julia said carefully. "What about Melanie? And Valerie?"

"Yes, of course I do," Devon said, as if it were obvious.

"Me?" As confidently as she'd approached the conversation so far, Devon could hear the undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice.

"Absolutely," Devon said emphatically, and Julia's expression softened slightly.

"All those people you think are worthy of respect have put their trust in you," Julia said. "So unless you think we're all stupid, maybe you ought to revise your opinion of yourself."

Devon pursed her lips, frowning at Julia. "Why the hell d'you have to be so logical about this? I was all prepared to wallow in self-pity, but you're making that awfully difficult."

Julia shrugged. "It's a lot easier to be logical when you're looking at it from the outside."

Devon sighed, looking back at the fire. "Okay, point taken. I'll try not to be so pathetic."

Julia laughed faintly. "Don't worry about it. I spend most of my time being pathetic. If it weren't for Melanie and you, I'd have curled up in a ball and died a long time ago."

"Me?" Devon said, surprised. "What'd I do? I mean, other than yell at you."

"You don't yell as much as you think you do," Julia said. "Most of the time you're really nice to me. And even the yelling is sort of…nice." She smiled at Devon's baffled look. "In the past three days, who have you yelled at the most?"

"Danziger," Devon said reluctantly. "And Uly."

"And what do those two people have in common?" Julia said, her eyes twinkling.

Devon blushed, glancing over at Danziger again, praying that he was still asleep.

* * *

"Yale?" Valerie said tentatively outside his tent. "Did you hear the news?"

Yale pulled back the tent flap. "You have heard from Devon?" he asked eagerly.

She smiled. "They're all okay," she said. "They'll be back sometime tomorrow."

Yale looked as relieved as everyone else had when they'd heard the news, but there was still an undercurrent of tension in his face. "That is excellent news," he said.

"That's why you were the second person I told," Valerie said. "Right after Bess."

Yale smiled. "I am grateful to you for that," he said. He paused, looking uncertain, then looked seriously at Valerie. "I had intended to speak to you," he said.

"Me?" Valerie said, blinking. "What for?"

"I wanted to ask you about my programming," he said. "Would it be possible for you to alter it?"

Valerie looked nervous. "I don't know, Yale," she said uneasily. "It's not like you're just a computer. The integration between your cybernetic devices and your brain isn't something I'd want to play around with."

Yale nodded. "I understand that," he said. "I would not expect you to attempt it without considerable preparation."

"Why would you want me to try it at all?" Valerie said.

Yale glanced uneasily over her shoulder, and she turned to see Rick talking to Helen a few meters away.

"Would you rather talk about this inside?" Valerie said, and Yale nodded gratefully. She followed him into the tent. "What's this about, Yale?"

Yale sighed. "You are aware of my recent…difficulties?" he asked.

Valerie shrugged. "Sort of. Julia mentioned that you'd had some blackouts, and she thought it might have something to do with your organic memory."

Yale looked uncomfortable. "That is true, to a certain extent. The problems I have been having are becoming more frequent, however, and now I have begun having memories. No," he said, shaking his head, "they are more than that. It is as if I am experiencing the events again."

Valerie raised her eyebrows. "That must be…weird," she said. "But I still don't understand what I can do to help."

"Some of the memories I have had were very vivid, but once they stopped, there were portions of them that I could not recall," he said, frowning. "That is most unusual for me—anything that I experience, I can replay from my internal database. But when I replay these moments, there are gaps in the record."

Valerie frowned. "And you think your programming has something to do with that?"

Yale nodded. "I believe there may be protocols in my programming that may be overriding my normal memory processing," he said.

Valerie looked searchingly at him. "What would be the point of that?" she said warily.

Yale smiled humorlessly. "I think you know the answer to that," he said.

Valerie nodded slowly. "Okay," she said finally, clearly thinking hard. "Can you download a copy of your firmware into my tablet?"

He nodded. "Assuming you have enough memory available," he added.

She smiled. "I'm a programmer, Yale. I have enough," she said, standing up. She started for the tent flap, then turned back to look at him. "I'm not promising anything," she said bluntly. "I can look at the code, but it'll take a while just to find whatever might be the problem. And even then, I can't be sure that I can find a way to change it without affecting the rest of the programming. And I'm not about to do something that could turn you into a giant paperweight."

"I understand. It would be helpful simply to know what is in here," he said, tapping the side of his head.

Valerie snorted. "Isn't that true for everybody?"

* * *

The ride back was better than the ride out had been, but not by much. Julia drove, and Danziger sat in the back with Tru in his arms. Devon sat in the front, with Uly in hers. And the two of them didn't exchange a single word the entire drive back.

That wasn't for lack of effort on Uly's part.

"So, um, how did you find us?" Uly asked after the first silent half hour.

"It really wasn't that hard," Devon said. "We just found a way through the hills, then headed for the river and followed it back up."

"But it took you overnight," Uly said. "You weren't looking that whole time, were you?"

"No," Devon said, trying not to think about the hexadent attack. "We stopped for a while when the rail ran out of charge."

Uly swiveled his head to look at her closely. "What happened?"

"Not now, Uly," Devon said tersely.

Uly glanced over at Julia, and she tried to look apologetic without letting Devon notice. It didn't work. Devon caught the look and looked like she'd eaten something awful.

Uly subsided for a while after that, and the hours of silence left Julia with a lot of time to think, something that had been in short supply over the last several days. On the one hand, she'd been glad of that. At least then she hadn't had to deal with the ongoing ache of every thought about Alonzo. But it also meant she hadn't been able to consider what Yale had given her to work with.

He'd put together a comprehensive list of the timing of his various blackouts and flashbacks, all the details he'd been able to come up with about the circumstances surrounding them, and the events he'd witnessed in the flashbacks themselves. None of it had given Julia any clue as to what to do.

He'd had three blackouts that he knew of, but there hadn't seemed to be any commonality to the circumstances that Julia could find, not even when she'd added in the information about the most recent one he'd told her about while they'd been waiting to cross the river.

The one thing that did seem to spark something in her was the content of the flashbacks and what others had heard Yale say during blackouts. There was the Dante quote, the time in the mess tent when he'd said, "Don't you think I know that?" and in the most recent one Toshiko had told Devon thought she'd heard him say something about "Aeneas."

"So Tru's really gonna be okay?" Uly asked suddenly.

"Absolutely," Julia said. "She just needs to rest. She'll bounce back fast."

"She sounded awful, like I used to, when she coughed," Uly said, and he still looked worried. He turned to look back at Danziger. "I'm really sorry," he said for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Jeez, kid, don't worry about it," Danziger said impatiently.

"If I'd just caught that rope when you threw it," Uly said.

"Don't go there," Danziger said. "I spent most of that first night thinking if I'd just been a little faster grabbing the rope, if I'd just run a little faster, I could have gotten it close enough you could have caught it. But I didn't. So don't you go blaming yourself for that."

"Uly, Tru needs to rest, and she can't do that if Danziger's talking to you, okay?" Devon said.

This time Julia kept her eyes straight ahead when Uly looked over at her. But she realized too late that she'd sighed in a way that could have been construed as critical, because that was clearly how Devon took it.

"You said she needed rest!" Devon said, and she looked surprised as how harsh her voice sounded.

"I did," Julia said gently. "She does."

More silence. Julia drove slowly, wishing she had the courage to drive as fast as Danziger had that first day, but she was realizing how reckless he had been now that she was driving the same terrain. And she was taking twice as long.

This time she was able to stifle the sigh before it got out. _Aeneas,_ she thought to distract herself. _What is it about the name Aeneas?_ There was something important about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She knew Aeneas was the subject of Vergil's epic poem, The Aeneid, and that Vergil had been Dante's guide through Hell, but there was something else about it she knew she ought to be able to remember.

_A lot of good my genetically-enhanced memory is now_, she thought, frustrated. _Thanks a lot, Mother_. She winced mentally, kicking herself for letting herself think about her mother, and then it hit her.

_ Aeneas_, she thought, and had a sudden memory of her mother arguing with someone at the door.

_ "Not in here!" she'd whispered angrily, blocking the way into their quarters. "You idiot!"_

_ "But Miriam, he was there, on Aeneas! He tried to save your grandmother during the assault! We owe it to him to try to get him out of—"_

_ "Keep your voice down, you fool!" Miriam whispered. "You know we can't risk it. Not now!"_

_ "Your father risked it for the pilot—" the man began angrily._

_ "I can do nothing for him!" Miriam cut in harshly and slapped the close button so hard Julia was afraid she'd hurt herself._

Julia blinked, trying to place the memory. _I was still living at home, so it had to be… _But even now, she could feel the resentment and anger she'd been feeling at the time. _No, it was right after she tried to set me up with Ethan Johnson. My second year in college. Eight years ago._

_Wait_, she thought, her mind leaping wildly from one train of thought to another, _he'd said __on__ Aeneas. It's a place._ And almost as soon as she thought it, she knew exactly what it was.

_It's one of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The gasparanium mines. My __family's__ gasparanium mines. Aeneas was one of the largest mining outposts, back in the early days._ Her mother used to have a 2-D picture of the mining outpost there, which had always seemed strange to Julia, since her mother rarely took interest in the family's mining operations, and it wasn't exactly a scenic shot.

_But what had happened there?_ she thought. _Something violent, obviously—some sort of assault. And Yale had been somewhere that a dropship landed, dropped him off with a group of CSF soldiers carrying weapons, and then at some point exploded with children on board. And Yale hadn't been on it—he'd seen it blow up._

But if that argument eight years ago had anything to do with that incident, it had to have taken place a long time ago, which didn't make any sense. It had sounded like the man was talking about Julia's great-grandmother, and she and her younger son, Julia's great-uncle, had died while visiting one of the family installations, though she didn't know any details. She'd assumed it was some sort of accident. _But what if it wasn't?_

She calculated in her mind how long ago it had to have been. Her great-grandfather had died when he was ninety-seven, and that had been when she was twelve. She'd gotten the impression her great-grandmother had died relatively young, and her great-uncle had definitely been a child. _If she'd been roughly the same age as her husband, and she'd died in her late twenties… Maybe 80 years ago, or in that range._

_ And then seventy-two years after that my mother had an argument about someone who had been on Aeneas. Someone she couldn't help. But what does that have to do with Yale?_

Absolutely nothing. There was no way there could be a connection between whatever happened eighty years ago and what was happening to Yale right now.

_But why else would Yale be talking about Aeneas?_ As far as she knew, there had been no other rebellions on that station, though she supposed it was possible there had been, and the Council had just covered it up.

_Covering it up_, she thought. _Eight years ago would have been very close to the time that Yale became a cyborg. What if whoever he'd been before had found out about the original Aeneas incident somehow, and the Council had turned him into a cyborg to prevent him from talking about it? Maybe the scene he'd had the flashback of had been a recording._

It was plausible, but somehow it didn't fit. There was something about that conversation she'd overheard that was bothering her. Whoever had been speaking to her mother had said "We owe it to him to try to get him out of—" Present tense. _Present tense_, she thought again. _Was there any way Yale could have been—?_

Julia slammed on the brakes, and suddenly realized she'd been driving for god knew how long without paying any attention to where she was going. They were coming to the end of the long draw they'd driven up that first day, and there was a long slope down from it towards the plain where the camp was. The slope was strewn with rocks large enough to damage the rail. _I need to pay more attention_, she thought, frustrated.

"Julia?" Devon said, raising her head to look groggily at her, and Julia realized she must have fallen asleep at some point. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Julia said, wishing Devon would just go back to sleep so she could think about what had made her nearly stop.

"Look, Mom!" Uly said, pointing, and there in the distance they could make out the line of the river, and a faint red square lit by the fading late afternoon sun that had to be the Transrover.

"We're almost there," Devon said. "What do you think, Julia? Another twenty minutes?"

"If we're lucky," Julia said absently, trying to focus on steering a safe path down the long slope of the foothills. It took nearly all her concentration, especially once the sun dipped behind the mountains. The rail's headlights helped, but between trying to make sure they stayed on course for the camp, worrying about the charge on the rail, and trying not to drive into rocks, Julia didn't get another chance to think about Yale, Alonzo or anything else.

They arrived back in the camp after dark to a joyous reception. Bess could barely speak, tears rolling down her face as she hugged Uly like she thought he'd disappear. Uly looked deeply embarrassed by the attention.

"I don't know why everybody's so glad to see me," he said, frowning as he tried to extricate himself from Toshiko's arms after she'd taken over from Bess. "I nearly got Tru killed."

"It doesn't matter," Toshiko said, holding him at arm's length and looking seriously at him. "None of that matters right now. We're just so glad to see you all right."

Julia had Danziger bring Tru into his tent, figuring she'd be just as well off in her own bed. She was still asleep, in spite of all the noise. _Which is about the best thing for her_, Julia thought as she followed Danziger inside. She gave him her diaglove and showed him how to scan her vitals.

"I'm not worried," she said reassuringly when he looked nervous. "Her vitals have been improving, and they're likely to get even better now that she can really sleep deeply. Just check her every two hours, and if her O2 sats go below 93, call me."

"Yeah," Danziger said. "Thanks, Doc." He reached out and squeezed her shoulder.

"Listen, I know Devon was…I mean, the things she said were…" Julia began, then faltered.

Danziger looked resigned. "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm used to it. You know what they say: shit rolls downhill."

Julia turned and left, flustered, and headed for the med tent, wishing she'd been able to say something even remotely useful.

"Rick!" Toshiko said, dragging him over to talk to Devon. "Is Rob back? Tell Devon what he found."

"Yes," Rick said, coming up to join them by the fire. "They're back, and it's great news."

"Oh?" Devon said.

"I sent Sergei and Rob west to scout," he said. "They think they found another supply pod."

"Really?" Devon said, her face lighting up. "Is it close?"

"About twenty-five k or so," Rick said. "It's probably not all that far to the west of where you cut through the hills, but there's another spur of the foothills, and it's on the other side of that."

"So how hard is it going to be to get to?" Devon asked.

Rick shook his head. "Not hard to get to," he said. "It's the getting stuff back that's going to be the hard part. The big trailer's already pretty heavily loaded. We'll have to figure out some other way to transport the stuff we get if there isn't another trailer in this pod."

Devon grimaced. "I think we only had two trailers altogether," she said. She shook her head. "We'll have to prioritize. If we end up setting up winter camp close enough, we can always go back for more."

"I have a feeling we will be setting up winter camp sooner rather than later," Rick said. "Have you noticed how cold it's been getting at night?"

"Don't remind me," Devon said, edging closer to the fire to get warm.

"And it's not just that. Rob says it just gets higher west of here. The best route he and Sergei could find actually angles a little north, too. That's not so bad—it takes us a little closer to that northern pass that Melanie was talking about on the sat images."

"But it means it'll be colder sooner," Devon said, sighing. "Let's just hope that supply pod has some of the winter gear in it."

* * *

Helen looked up alertly, raising her mag-pro and powering it up as she listened for another sound from the darkness. She tapped her gear quickly. "Heads up, everybody. I've got something moving out here."

"Huh?" Bill said over the gear. "How come the perimeter alarms didn't go off?"

"How would I know?" Helen whispered. "Just shut up and keep your eyes open!"

"Relax, Helen, it's just me," Hardy said, coming into view.

Helen frowned, lowering her mag-pro. "What the hell are you doing out there?"

"I'm just trying to get my leg back in shape," Hardy said, holding up his hands. "Doing laps around the camp."

"Jesus, Hardy, you scared the hell out of me!" Helen said. "Next time let us know you're wandering around!"

Hardy looked embarrassed. "Sorry," he said. "I figured since I was inside the perimeter, it wouldn't be a big deal."

"Are you serious?" Helen said. "After the stink you raised about Julia and her little jaunts out of camp?"

"I wasn't out of the camp!" Hardy said defensively. "Jeez, lighten up!" He turned and headed back towards the campfire, glowering at her over his shoulder.

"False alarm," Helen said over the gear. "Just Hardy being an idiot."

"Isn't that redundant?" Valerie said.

* * *

"Hey, tiger," Devon said, coming into her tent. Uly was sitting on his bunk, still fully clothed. "I thought I told you to get ready for bed."

"I know," he said, but he didn't move.

Devon knelt in front of him. "You know the drill, Uly. Whatever it is, you're better off talking about it. So spit it out."

Uly looked uncomfortable, but he finally sighed. "Are you gonna yell at Tru?" he said.

Devon winced. "Am I that predictable?"

"Well, yeah," he said. "But you shouldn't! I mean, it wasn't her fault. It was mine."

"Don't worry, Uly, I know that. And don't think you're off the hook for that, either, mister."

Uly looked resigned. "Yeah, I know. Yale already gave me a ton of homework." He sighed.

"Where is Yale?" Devon said.

"He went to talk to Julia about something," Uly said. "Listen, I know I need to be punished, but couldn't you get him to assign me more math? Or science? If I have to read one more poem, I'm gonna start talking in rhymes."

"Don't whine to me about it," Devon said. "You brought this on yourself. Now into bed, mister. You didn't sleep all day like Tru, so you have to be tired by now."

Uly's face clouded at that.

"Oh, I'm sorry, tiger," Devon said, kicking herself. "I didn't mean to—"

"What if Tru hates me?" he said quietly, looking at his hands.

_Oh, Uly_, Devon thought. "Why would she hate you?"

"She thinks I'm annoying already, and then I went off and left her and she almost got eaten," Uly said in a rush. "I never should have left her, Mom, and now she's going to think I'm a moron, and—"

"And then what happened?" Devon said.

Uly looked confused. "Huh?"

"After you left her, and the hexadent came. She was sick, right? And what did you do?"

"I couldn't do anything!" he said, and she could imagine how terrified he must have been.

"That's not what you told me when we got there," Devon said. "You said you helped her breathe, remember?"

"I was really mean to her," he said, looking guiltily at his mother. "She wasn't listening to me, so I told her I could breathe through a straw when I was five."

"And that worked, didn't it?" Devon said, smiling.

Uly looked chagrined. "Yeah," he said. "She was pretty mad, but yeah, it worked."

"That's my smart boy," Devon said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulders. "Now you listen to me. You both needed each other to stay alive out there. She'll remember that. She might not be happy about it—she's pretty independent, you know." Uly snorted. "So that might make her prickly for a while. Don't you worry about that, okay? Just be nice to her, even when she's prickly, and she'll get over it. And trust me, she'll remember that you helped her breathe."

Uly still didn't look convinced.

"You'll want to be careful, though," Devon said. "Don't let her know you feel so bad about it, or she'll use that against you in the worst possible ways. Guilt is just about the best way to get what you want. Trust me—it's what I'd do if I were her. So tell her you're sorry, but don't go all goopy on her."

"Goopy?" Uly looked baffled by that.

"Yeah, you know, weepy-eyed, talking too much, too fast. Like I get when you're really sick," Devon said.

"Oh," Uly said. He frowned at her. "Is that why you get like that, because you feel bad, like it's your fault?"

"Well, duh," Devon said, giving him her best impression of his "you idiot" look.

He looked annoyed. "That's pretty stupid, Mom. It's not your fault I was sick."

"And it's not your fault that hexadent came after Tru," Devon said pointedly. "He'd have come after both of you if you'd been there, and you might—" She stopped herself.

"But I didn't, Mom," Uly said insistently. "And neither did Tru. So it's all good."

"Yeah, it's all good," Devon said, trying to convince herself of that. _If only it were_, she thought.

"So when are you going to apologize to Mr. Danziger?" Uly said, his voice muffled by his shirt as he pulled it over his head. He got it off and looked nervously at her.

"Apologize?" Devon said stiffly. "For what?"

Uly gave her his patented, "Mom, this is me you're talking to," look. "You yelled at him, didn't you?"

Devon sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get this one past him. "Yeah," she said. "I said some pretty stupid things." _Galactically stupid things_, she thought.

"Uh-huh. So tell him you're sorry, but don't go all goopy on him," Uly said, grinning again. "Right?"

"Right," Devon said, wishing it was really that easy.


	7. Chapter 7

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 7

* * *

_A/N: Here beginneth the two chapters that kept this from being published six months ago. I wish I could say I think I finally got them right, but I can't. I finally got to the point where it felt like I was moving the deck chairs on the Titanic to get ready to sail. On the plus side, as disastrous as the Titanic was, there were some great stories that came out of it. Of course, James Cameron also got hold of it, so I guess we call it a wash. But I digress..._

_Thanks for the ongoing wonderful reviews. Prolix007, I do hope I haven't caused you trouble at work, but if so, tell your employer you made me very happy._

* * *

"Dr. Heller?" Yale called from outside her tent.

Julia groaned inwardly. It felt like she'd barely closed her eyes since she got back from checking in on Tru late the night before, and after the sleepless night she'd had the night before, she wanted nothing more than to roll over and ignore him.

"Just a minute," she said instead, throwing back her blanket and quickly pulling on her one change of clothes. She glanced over to where Melanie was still sound asleep and ducked through the tent flap.

"Forgive me," Yale said, looking unhappy. "I did not mean to wake you."

"It's okay," Julia said quietly, though she knew she was less than convincing. "What's wrong?"

"I had another…incident," he said. "Well…two of them. While you were looking for the children."

"A blackout?" she said. "Or a memory?"

"Blackout," he said, "though there was a moment after I became aware of my surroundings the second time when I felt like I was somewhere else."

"How long were they?" Julia asked.

"The first was ten minutes," he said. "The second was nearly thirty." He looked shaken. "I was almost outside the camp, Doctor. Alonzo Solace nearly shot me."

Julia raised her eyebrows. "That's not good," she said, and Yale actually looked annoyed at the understatement. "I'm sorry," she added contritely. "Obviously it's not good. You haven't had two that close together before."

"Indeed," he said. "That is why I could wait no longer to speak to you. Now that Ulysses has returned, I do not feel safe staying in the same tent with him. I do not know what I am capable of doing during one of these blackouts."

Julia frowned. "Yale, I don't think you're dangerous—"

"I do!" he said harshly, and immediately looked apologetic when Julia recoiled. "Forgive me," he said. "But…I am frightened, Doctor. I stood guard duty with Toshiko last night because I wanted someone I trust to watch over me."

"Yale, you have to sleep," Julia said, looking at his exhausted face in concern. "Whatever is happening to you—"

"I went to sleep, Julia, and I woke up with a mag-pro pointed at my face!" Yale said, his voice rising.

Julia blanched, shocked as much by his use of her first name as anything. She sighed helplessly. "I—I'll talk to Valerie," she said, grasping at straws. "Maybe she's found something in your coding."

"And if she has not?"

"I don't know," Julia said. She glanced nervously over at Devon's tent. "Have you told Devon what's going on?"

Yale shook his head emphatically.

"Yale," Julia said patiently, "she already knows you're having the blackouts. You have to tell her. Didn't she ask why you weren't in the tent last night?"

"I left after she'd fallen asleep," Yale said, looking away in shame.

Julia shifted so she could look him in the eye. "You will tell her. Right now. I'll go talk to Valerie," she said. When Yale didn't respond, she put her hand on his shoulder. "Yale, you have to trust me. We'll figure something out. But in the meantime, Devon has to know. You owe her that."

"But…what if…?" Yale began, his voice shaking. He took a deep breath. "What if she is afraid of me?"

Julia smiled at him. "This is Devon we're talking about. When has she been afraid of anything?" _Except guns_, she thought wryly.

She watched as he headed back towards Devon's tent, and sighed. There was no way she was going to talk to Valerie this early. Not and keep her head, at any rate. She turned and headed back into her tent.

_The best thing I can do now is figure out what Aeneas was all about_, she thought, trying to remember exactly what her line of thinking had been before she'd slammed on the brakes the night before. She replayed the scene in her mind, but after rethinking it, she was no closer to an answer.

_All I have are two events that seem connected, but __can't__ be_, she thought, frustrated. _There's no way Yale could have been involved in the original event at Aeneas—_

She froze, staring blindly at her lab table. _Of course there's a way_, she thought. _The same way we got here._

* * *

Danziger woke up with a headache. He hadn't slept well, and not just because he'd had to keep scanning Tru. He sat up with a groan.

"Hey, Dad," Tru croaked.

He turned to look at her. "Hey, Tru-girl," he said. "How ya doin'?"

She grimaced. "I feel like the Transrover's sitting on my chest," she said. "But my head doesn't hurt so bad anymore."

"That's good," he said. "Julia said your lungs would take some time to clear, so don't stress out about the chest thing. We'll ride in the Transrover for a couple of days so you can rest, and she says you'll bounce back in no time."

"How's Uly?" she said.

"He's fine," Danziger said immediately. "All he's been doing is worrying about you. You impressed the heck out of him out there, kid."

Tru looked embarrassed. "I didn't do anything," she said. "He's the one who got us out of the river. And then—" She remembered in a hazy, nightmarish way how he'd talked her through the terrifying moments when she couldn't breathe.

"Where'd you just go, Tru?" Danziger said gently, kneeling next to her cot.

"I was scared," she said, looking seriously at him. "I couldn't breathe, and the more I couldn't breathe, the more scared I got." She blinked hard.

"He said something about that. He talked you down, didn't he?"

"Yeah," she said shakily. "If he hadn't been there…" She trailed off, looking unhappy.

"I'm glad he was," Danziger said fervently.

"Me, too," Tru said, and then, after a beat, "but I swear to God, Dad, if you tell him I said that, I will hurt you."

"I'm a vault," Danziger said, holding up his hands defensively. He hesitated, then plunged ahead. "Look, when we got there, you said something, and I wanted to ask you about it."

Tru frowned, clearly not remembering much from that time.

"You said, 'Thanks for the pink,'" Danziger said. "I think I know what you meant, but…"

"Oh, jeez, I said that out loud?" Tru groaned.

"You liked it!" Danziger said, grinning. "You really liked the pink room! I knew it!"

"No!" Tru said, horrified. "It was awful!"

Danziger's face fell.

"Oh, for—" Tru huffed. "I hated the pink, Dad—hated it—but…" She paused, clearly reluctant to continue. "But…it was a really nice thing you did. That's all I meant."

Danziger looked confused, but nodded.

Tru groaned. "Okay, I'm going to explain this, but I don't ever want to hear you talk about it again." She glared at him until he nodded. "When you were gone, that pink room was about the only thing I had from you. So even though the pink was awful, I never had Mom redo it. And the whole time I was with Station Services, it made me so mad that somebody else got to have my pink room."

Danziger blinked back tears.

"And then Uly told me, when I was wigging out, that I should think of someplace that made me happy." She looked up at her father. "That was my place, okay? So that's why I said thanks." She paused, then gave him a fierce look. "But if you ever give me anything pink again, I'll smother you with a pink pillow or something. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Danziger said contritely.

* * *

Devon met with Rob and Sergei early that morning. They'd gotten back late the night before, with word of a possible winter camp site. Devon listened to them describing the spot, trying to get a handle on how they should proceed that day, but she was having a hard time keeping her mind on what they were saying. Yale had told her about his most recent blackouts, and his fear had been palpable. She'd done her best to reassure him, but she'd had little success.

_And no wonder_, she thought grimly. _I'm scared for him. And for all of us._

"The thing is," Rob was saying as Devon wrenched her mind away from her worries about Yale and back to the conversation, "there's a lot of interference with the comm up there. That's the only downside to the spot. I talked to Melanie about it, and she seemed to think it might be some sort of magnetic interference. Probably from geologic sources."

Devon frowned. "How bad was it?"

Rob shrugged. "There were a few spots close to the site we picked out where we couldn't get through to Mel at all."

Sergei nodded. "But remember how Julia thought that the Terriers' empathic communication might be tied to bioelectric fields?"

Devon immediately saw where he was headed. "You think these hills might interfere with the Terriers' communication, too?"

Sergei shrugged. "Rob and I had plenty of time on the way back to think it through. I think it's a good possibility, and so does Melanie."

Devon considered the possibility for a long moment. "If that is the case…" she began.

"Yeah," Rob said, grinning. "This might be the safest spot on the planet for us to hole up."

Devon sighed in relief. "Perfect," she said. "So it's how far away?"

"A little over thirty k," Sergei said. "It'll take a little longer for the Transrover to get there than it did us, though. The terrain gets pretty rough up there unless we really detour north to get around the spur of the foothills. Either way, I think we're at least two days from it, probably more like three if we're as careful as I think we need to be."

"Okay," Devon said, "get everybody ready to pack up. I want us to get to that spot you picked out three days from now at the latest so we can start setting up the domes and send out a scout team. I don't want to risk anybody getting stuck in snow or something because we took too long going after the supply pod." She frowned. "How many people have you—?"

"Nobody knows but you, Mel and Tosh," Sergei said. "I didn't want to get anybody's hopes up, either. Rob here might be a little dim, but I'm not."

"Hey!" Rob said. "Who picked up the signal?"

Sergei raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, you're only a little dim."

Rob rolled his eyes as Sergei sauntered off towards the mess tent, then turned to look back at Devon. "Um, Devon, I know you've probably heard this a lot, but we're both really glad Uly and Tru are safe. It was the best news ever when Melanie told us you'd found them. They're good kids."

_Yes, they are_, Devon thought, wishing she'd told Tru that herself before all this happened. Now it would probably seem to Tru like guilt talking. Which, if she was perfectly honest with herself, it would be, at least a little. _Even so_, she told herself, _you'd better do it, or Uly will never forgive you._

* * *

Julia was grateful to finally get back on the road again. There was something about the monotony of walking along that helped her to think. At least as long as she could keep Melanie occupied with something other than talking to her.

Luckily, she and Valerie were busy working on tapping into the Council satellite feed and figuring out how to hack the encryption.

Valerie had been as frustrated as Julia over Yale's situation when Julia had finally gotten to talk to her about it. "There are millions of lines of code in his programming," Valerie had said. "I have a bot scanning the code and flagging some key words, but it's going to take time."

"How much time?" Julia had asked.

Valerie had shrugged. "At least another day, maybe more. And even then, I'll have to go through each of the flagged segments and figure them out."

Julia sighed as she walked along. At least they weren't in the awkward position of having to decide which took precedence, predicting the weather, or helping Yale. And Valerie had some interesting thoughts about the conflict between Yale's organic memory and his mechanical memory being the cause of the blackouts. Julia had spent most of the morning thinking through the implications.

If Valerie was right, the key to Yale's problem was figuring out his past. So Julia decided to go through each of his flashbacks as he'd described them and see if there was anything in them that could give her a clearer picture of what had happened. And when.

The really crucial bit of evidence was one she'd felt foolish not to have considered before. There was no way the incident on Aeneas that Yale had witnessed could have been any later than eighty years ago, because the Heller Corporation had decommissioned that installation and shifted to more productive mines on other asteroids in 2134.

_So the options are either he was there eighty years ago, and somehow ended up in coldsleep for over seventy years, or that he simply witnessed a recording of those events._ She knew the latter was more likely, more plausible, but his reactions to the flashbacks had been far too visceral for her to believe he'd been anything but an eyewitness.

And as implausible as the coldsleep theory was, it wasn't impossible.

_So where does that leave us? _she thought. Morgan had said that the first generation Yales had all been criminals before they became cyborgs. Which meant that Yale had to have been a criminal. But that didn't mean much—there were any number of things that could get a person labeled a "criminal" by the Council. He could have been a political protestor or a neo-environmentalist.

_Or_, she thought suddenly, _a deserter_. Certainly the events as he'd described them would fit that story. He'd been holding a weapon, then witnessed an explosion, and argued with an officer.

_But none of that tells me who he was_, she thought, frustrated. _And there isn't a shred of evidence to connect him to that conversation I overheard, either. I need more to go on than—_

Alonzo whizzed by in the ATV, kicking up a cloud of dust that billowed back into her face, and Julia ducked her head to avoid it.

He hadn't said a single word to her since the argument, and she couldn't figure out if she was happy about that or not. On the one hand, it was a relief. Even as distracted as she had been over the past few days by the rescue of the children and by the ongoing Yale crisis, she kept replaying his words to her in her mind—

She wrenched her mind violently away from that line of thinking. It wasn't going to do her any more good than it ever did, and she needed to focus on Yale.

But even as she tried to avoid it, the most important part of that night ran through her mind. He had told her he loved her. And she hadn't said anything in response.

* * *

The day passed in a blur for Devon. They made good time traveling, and were within a little more than a day's travel of the site that Rob and Sergei had found by the time she called a halt. But during that whole time, Devon barely had a moment to herself, between planning the setup of the domes with Rick, putting together teams to scout south through the foothills to look for the supply pod, and getting updates from Melanie and Valerie about their satellite hack.

"It's working great," Melanie had said as they walked along late in the afternoon, proudly showing off the images on her tablet. "Valerie was brilliant—I really didn't think she'd be able to break the encryption that fast."

Valerie looked smugly at her. "Now you know better."

"They're looking right at us," Devon said uneasily, studying the image.

Melanie nodded. "Luckily, the resolution isn't all that high. Remember, the atmosphere here is denser than Old Earth's was, so the image is a little blurry. I think they went bargain basement with this satellite—it looks like the optics are a century out of date. That won't hurt us as far as tracking weather, but it does make it harder for the Council to find us."

"But they'll be able to spot the domes pretty easily," Devon said.

Melanie looked nervous. "I hadn't thought about that. But at least it looks like we're going to have some heavy cloud cover over the next several days. That should give us time to get set up without them seeing it."

Devon tapped her gear. "Rick, I need to talk to you again. We need to figure out how to camouflage the domes."

That conversation took a good part of the evening, with Rick recruiting Rob and Bill and anyone else within earshot to brainstorm ideas for how to hide the domes. By the time Devon finally got to bed, they'd come up with a workable plan, though Devon had really stopped paying attention by the time they'd decided on it.

But that wasn't the end of Devon's day. She spent another hour at least talking Yale through his continuing fears about his stability.

"We're not leaving you behind," Devon said insistently. "So don't even think about saying it again."

Yale looked frustrated. "Then would you consider allowing Dr. Heller to sedate me?" he said.

Devon raised her eyebrows. "You can't be serious," she said. "We can't cart your unconscious body all over G-889!"

Yale shook his head. "Once we are in the winter camp, we could do it," he said. "It might allow us to delay the worsening of my symptoms long enough for Valerie to find some way to alleviate whatever is causing the trouble."

"Yale, we don't even know that your symptoms are worsening," she said, but his look told her he knew better. She sighed. "Fine. We can talk to Julia about it, but her decision is final. If she says it's a bad idea, you won't bring it up again, okay?"

Yale insisted on asking her immediately, but luckily Julia was still awake. And as soon as they talked to her, Devon was glad she'd given in to Yale. Julia was aghast at the very idea.

"That's insane!" she said, staring at Yale like he'd just suggested she cut off his head. "No, absolutely not!"

"But Dr. Heller," Yale protested.

"No," Julia said adamantly. "That is absolutely the last resort. Only if you actively become violent, and I'm not sure I'd risk it even then." She looked intently at him. "Yale, with your databases, you know as well as anyone the dangers of that kind of extended sedation. Just the effects of the sedative on the liver and kidneys would make me nervous, let alone what it would do to the brain of a normal human. But you add in the complication of your cybernetic systems, and the stresses you're already under…" She trailed off, hoping she'd gotten through to him.

He glanced over at Devon appealingly.

She shook her head. "I told you, Yale, Julia's word is final," she said.

He nodded reluctantly.

"Why don't you head on back to the tent and make sure Uly is really asleep," Devon said. "He keeps trying to fake it and read his tablet under the covers," she told Julia, who smiled.

Yale looked nervous. "I am uncomfortable being alone with Ulysses, Devon. What if I should have another flashback or blackout?"

Devon winced. "I'm sure you'll be—" she began, but stopped. _What if he's right? What if he really could be dangerous?_ "Go find Toshiko or somebody else who's still up and have her stay with you and Uly till I get back," she said, hating herself for even considering the possibility his concern was valid.

Yale still looked reluctant, but finally acquiesced.

After he'd left, Devon turned to Julia, who shook her head helplessly. "I don't know what to tell you, Devon," she said.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

Julia shrugged. "I'm trying to figure out if there's anything in his flashbacks that can give us a clue to who he was. I was talking to Valerie, and we're hoping that the cause of his problem is that his organic memory is in conflict with his mechanical memory. But if we can get his real past into his mechanical memory, maybe that conflict could be eliminated."

Devon looked skeptical, and Julia nodded. "I know, it's a long shot, and it depends entirely on us figuring out who he was." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Devon. I wish I could do more for him. And for you."

"Don't apologize," Devon said quickly. "I appreciate all you and Valerie are doing for him."

But Devon could tell Julia was thinking the same thing she was. _I just wish you could do more._

* * *

"Devon," Toshiko said, coming up to her as she approached the mess tent the next morning. "We have a problem."

"What now?" Devon groaned, bracing herself for another insane day.

"It's Hardy," Toshiko said, and her nose wrinkled like she'd smelled something bad.

"What? I thought his leg was almost healed. He's been walking around without the crutches."

Toshiko nodded. "That's the problem," she said. "He wants back in the rotation for scouting. And since you decided nobody leaves camp alone..."

Devon's rolled her eyes. "Nobody wants to go with him," she said under her breath.

Toshiko nodded again. "Not even Morgan," she said. "I think Bess is mad enough at Hardy, Morgan doesn't want to risk her getting mad at him, too."

"Danziger will do it," Devon said, though she knew she'd have to get Tosh to ask him for her. _Yet another thing I haven't had time to deal with_, she thought tiredly.

"He would, but he's not on scout yet. He wants to stick close to Tru. I guess she's still coughing—don't worry," she added, raising her hand to stop Devon from running straight to Danziger's tent. "Julia said she'd be fine, but Danziger doesn't want to go on scout while she's still recovering."

"Hell," Devon said, thinking. "Maybe I can get Julia to say he isn't ready yet. Then we can send him out with Danziger once Tru's healthy again." She headed over to the med tent.

"I'll go with him," Julia said after Devon had explained everything.

"Like hell you will!" Melanie said hotly.

"She's right," Devon said. "I'm not risking our doctor just so Hardy can feel better about himself." _Besides, _she thought,_ it'd be even worse if Hardy refused to go with Julia._

Julia looked rebellious for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess I can figure out some reason to keep him here. I'll go tell him," she said, starting for the tent flap.

"No way," Melanie said, grabbing her arm. "First off, you don't need to put yourself through that. But secondly," she said holding up her hands to keep Julia from interrupting, "you know he won't accept it coming from you."

"She's right," Devon said reluctantly. "Melanie and I will tell him. He won't be happy, but at least he won't be yelling at you and making things worse."

She was wrong.

"This is Julia's way of punishing me, isn't it?" Hardy said angrily when Devon had finished explaining to him.

Melanie looked surprised.

"Well, I'm not about to sit here twiddling my thumbs till she decides to let me off the hook," he said, and started for the rail, nearly colliding with Valerie as he went.

"Hardy," Devon said, following him, "stop. You can't go without a partner, and I'm not going to—"

"I don't need a god-damned partner!" Hardy said, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the rail.

"Hardy, get out of that rail!" Devon said, but he'd already thrown it into gear and peeled out, showering them with gravel as the wheels spun.

"Damn it!" Devon said furiously, brushing dirt from her face. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

"Should we send somebody after him?" Melanie said, watching him heading south.

"No!" Devon snapped. "If he gets himself killed out there, that's his problem!"

"Is it?" Valerie said. "Devon, what if he's the spy?"

Devon turned to look at her, surprised. "Are you kidding? There's no way he's the spy—he's about as subtle as a supernova!"

"Maybe that's why he acts that way. Devon, this could be his opportunity to report in," Valerie said. "What if he found a way to contact them? It would certainly explain why he's so eager to get out of camp."

Devon looked at her for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Follow him," she said.

Valerie took off running for the second rail, calling for Rick to join her as she went.

Melanie looked after her, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Did you notice what he said?"

"What?" Devon said.

"He called her Julia. Not 'that Council spy' or 'her' or 'Council whor—"

"I get the picture," Devon cut in. "Why is that important?"

"He also said this was her way of punishing him," Melanie continued. "Not that this was some devious plan of hers to screw things up for all of us. Why would he think she was punishing him?"

Devon raised her eyebrows. "You think he's coming around?"

Melanie shrugged. "I don't know. If he is the spy, this might be the chance we need to catch him. But if he isn't, maybe letting him have some time on his own to think is a good thing."

* * *

"Well," Melanie said, coming into the med tent. "That was unexpected."

"What?" Julia said.

"Hardy took off," Melanie said. "And Valerie and Rick are following him."

Julia looked at her sharply. "You don't think—"

"That he's the spy? Of course I do, Julia," Melanie said. "So does Valerie. What are we supposed to think? He's been nothing but belligerent to you ever since the cliff—hell even before that—and he's completely alienated himself from everyone, so he has a lot of time to himself. Hell, the other night, Helen said she caught him walking around outside the camp, just inside the perimeter. And now he's taken off by himself in the rail. None of that looks good, Julia."

Julia looked like she'd been kicked in the stomach. "That isn't proof," she said quietly. "It's all circumstantial."

"Of course it's circumstantial! It's not like he's going to—" Melanie stopped cold, looking hard at Julia. "Wait a minute," she said, suddenly realizing why Julia looked that way. "You can't be serious."

"Serious? What do you mean?" Julia said, but she wouldn't meet Melanie's eyes.

Melanie stared at her, and then burst out laughing.

Julia frowned. "What's so funny?"

Melanie took a breath. "You really think Alonzo could be the spy? Alonzo?!"

Julia looked trapped. "What does any of this have to do with Alonzo? I never said—"

"You didn't have to!" Melanie said. "It's all right there on your face! And all that stuff I said about Hardy could be said about Alonzo." She closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head. "Oh, my god, so that's what all this has been about, isn't it? He's angry with you for suspecting him."

Julia turned and started packing away the equipment she had out on her lab table.

"Well, he has every right to be! Julia, you should know better! Come on, think it through. Why on earth would the Council recruit a member of the crew as a spy? If they wanted to keep an eye on the Eden Project, they'd need somebody in the Eden Project, wouldn't they?"

"And the same could be said for Hardy," Julia said defensively, though she was revisiting her own doubts in the face of Melanie's utter certainty she was wrong. "Besides, maybe they already had somebody on the crew, so they decided to use—"

"Right," Melanie said derisively. "They just happened to have recruited a member of our crew, somebody who'd be available and useful to them for a month or two every six years, at best?" She sighed. "Julia, it just doesn't make any sense. I've known Alonzo Solace for…" She stopped, calculating in her head. "…Somewhere close to sixty years. And we've only been out of coldsleep for maybe seven years of that time."

"Melanie, I know that," Julia said, turning to face her. "Why do you think I haven't said anything?"

"Besides," Melanie went on, ignoring her, "the whole reason Alonzo is a sleepjumper is because he hates the Council. He used to be in the CSF, you know. When I first met him, he'd just gotten out, and he had nothing good to say about the experience."

"I know that, too," Julia said. "He told me about that, before all this started."

"Not all of it," Melanie said darkly. "He wouldn't have told you how he really felt about the Council. Julia, he hates them even more than Hardy does. Hell, even more than you!"

"Then why did he act the way he did?" Julia said helplessly.

"I don't know!" Melanie said. "You tell me. How did he act? This all started with that conversation you had after the attack, right?"

Julia bit her lip, but didn't answer.

"What did you both say?" Melanie said. "And I mean word for word."

"I said, 'I know. I shouldn't be so nervous. But we got lucky this time. If that explosion that hit the ATV had been just a few meters one way or the other, we could have lost Inez or Yale, and maybe more.'" Julia hesitated, then plunged forward. "Then I said, 'And we still have the spy to worry about.' And that's when he started acting weird."

Melanie frowned. "Weird how? What did he say—exactly?"

Julia frowned, shaking her head. "I was thinking about Yale right after I said that about the spy, about what Yale had said—the Dante quote. And I remembered that Alonzo said his mother taught literature, so I asked him about the Inferno, and he thought at first I was talking about the fire you started, but then I said the quote, and—" She stopped, remembering the look on his face.

"What?" Melanie said. "What happened next?"

_When he asked if I meant the fire, his expression was confused, not angry_, she thought. But she'd already talked about the spy at that point. _Oh, god, what if I've been wrong?_

"Julia?" Melanie prompted.

"It must have been the quote," Julia said, her forehead creased in confusion. "Could that be what made him mad, not what I said before it?" She shook her head. "But what on earth is there about that quote that could make him so angry?"

"Go ask him!" Melanie said, as if it was obvious. "Right now!"

Julia looked nervous. "I can't, Melanie. You didn't hear him before. He was furious—"

"Of course he was furious!" Melanie said. "But if you tell him you don't think he's the spy, he won't have to be furious anymore."

Julia shook her head. "You can't honestly think he'll just get over it like that," she said.

"Fine," Melanie said, standing up. "If you won't ask him, I will."

"No!" Julia said, grabbing her arm. "You can't!"

"Of course I can," Melanie said. "It's easy. I'll just go over there and say, 'Hey, Alonzo—"

"Melanie," Julia pleaded.

"Then you'll ask him," Melanie said, and it wasn't a question.

Julia hesitated, looking like she'd rather face a pack of hexadents.

"You'll go over there, you'll apologize for being such an enormous idiot to think he was the spy, and then you'll ask him what's really going on," Melanie said patiently.

"Everybody's packing up," Julia said, grasping at straws. "What if he's already left?"

Melanie gave her a look. "Then you'll call him on gear and get him back," she said, her voice almost menacing.

Julia visibly deflated. "Okay," she said finally. She started for the tent flap, then turned to look at Melanie. "Come with me," she said.

Melanie shook her head. "Somebody needs to pack up our tent. Besides, I'd only make things worse," she said. "You need to fix this, Julia."

_She's right_, Julia thought, leaving the tent. _But how?_

* * *

"Oh, crap," Valerie breathed.

"What is it?" Rick said, slowing the rail and glancing over at her. Her head was bent over her tablet, and she was tapping frantically.

"I lost him," she said. "He must have turned off his gear."

Rick frowned. "Couldn't it just be that he got into an area where there's too much interference?"

Valerie looked skeptical. "The signal's gone, Rick. Not intermittent, not garbled. It's just gone."

"How far away was he when we lost him?"

"Three klicks," Valerie said. "If he's in a bad signal area, it must be a cave. Or a shielded bunker."

Rick groaned inwardly. He didn't much care for Hardy, but he hadn't thought he was capable of betraying them all to the Council. _I guess I was wrong_, Rick thought grimly. He tapped at his gear. "Melanie?" he said.

Static.

Rick frowned. They'd been able to get at least intermittent contact for the last five klicks, though it had gotten worse the last time they'd checked in. "Mel, if you can hear any of this, we lost Hardy's signal."

More static, without even a hint of variation in the hiss to indicate there was anyone there.

"Stupid rocks," Valerie said, looking up at the steep hillside beside them. "What do we do now?"

"We keep going," Rick said. "If he is in a bad signal area, we should pick him up again. If he did turn off his gear, we still might be able to get close enough to find him."

"And then?" Valerie said, glancing over at Rick.

"Then we bring him back," Rick said resolutely.

Valerie looked uncomfortable. "Rick—"

"No," Rick said. "I know what you're thinking, but I didn't sign on to kill people in cold blood. And I'm still not convinced he is the spy. We can't get through to the camp from here, and for all we know, they've lost our signal." He shook his head. "No. We get him, we bring him back. Besides, if he is the spy, we might be able to get him to tell us more about the Council."

Valerie looked skeptical, but she nodded. "Okay," she said. She sighed. "Thanks. I'm not sure I could have done it anyway."

* * *

Julia stood by the mess tent, looking across at Alonzo as he packed his gear by the Transrover. _Come on_, she thought. _Just go over there and talk to him._

_And say what?_ the rebellious part of her thought. _ What can you possibly say to him?_ But she finally forced herself to start towards the Transrover. "Alonzo?"

He looked up sharply at her call, then turned and savagely shoved something into his bag.

Julia hesitated, trying to figure out what to say.

"What do you want, Heller?" he said, throwing his bag onto the back of the Transrover and turning to look at her. "I gotta go scout with Artie."

"It was the quote," she heard herself say. "The Dante quote. That's what made you angry."

He stared at her. "Yeah," he said finally, his voice dripping with derision. "Way to go, Doc. Mission accomplished."

"But…why?" Julia said. "I don't—"

"You know damned well why!" he snapped.

"No!" Julia protested. "I swear, Alonzo, I don't know."

"Then why the hell did you bring it up?" he said. "It's not like that line's a great conversation starter!"

"Because Yale said it, and I thought you might know why!" Julia said. She pushed a strand of hair away from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear. "Alonzo, please, I'm not good at this—I don't—"

Alonzo laughed. "Not good at this?" he said, climbing into the ATV. "I'd say you were doing just fine. You wanted to know if I'd react to that quote, and I did. But that doesn't mean I'm the spy, damn it!" He threw the ATV in gear.

"Alonzo, wait! Stop! I don't think—!" Julia shouted, but he'd already pulled away. "I don't think you're the spy," she repeated helplessly.

* * *

"Hey, Danziger," Devon called as he came out of his tent.

He turned and looked at her as she came closer. "Adair," he said warily.

"Listen, I was wondering if you'd let me drive the 'Rover this morning," she said nervously.

He shook his head. "Tru needs to ride still. Julia said she needs the cabin filters so her lungs don't have to work as hard."

Devon nodded. "I know. I wanted to have a chance to talk to her."

Danziger raised his eyebrows.

"I understand if you don't want me to do it today," Devon said, looking everywhere but at him. "I mean, if she's too tired, I can wait, or…if you'd rather I didn't, I respect that…"

"What did you want to talk to her about?" he said.

Devon took a breath. "I…I'd rather not say," she said. "But I'm not going to yell at her or anything." She hesitated. "Please."

"Go ahead," Danziger said gruffly. "I can walk for a while."

Devon breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said, and started for the Transrover.

Danziger watched her go, frowning.

* * *

"Wait!" Valerie said, shielding her tablet screen from the late morning sun. "I've got something!" She tapped on the tablet. "It's the supply pod signal," she said after a long moment. "About five k southwest of us."

"Still nothing from Hardy?" Rick said.

Valerie shook her head. "I wish I knew where the hell he went. I don't like the idea of him running around out here doing—" She cut off abruptly. "Well, ask and ye shall receive."

"You got him back?"

Valerie nodded. "He's really close to the supply pod. He isn't moving. It looks like—wait, no, he's moving again. He's headed back towards us." She looked up. "Can you run us up to the edge of that hill?" she said pointing. "We might be able to see him from there."

Rick nodded and turned the rail up the hill. He had to maneuver around several stands of trees and shrubs that were too tight to get through, but after a few minutes, they were stopped by a rock outcropping overlooking the broad plains to the south.

Valerie hopped out, pulling out her monocular and clambering up to the top of the rocks.

"See anything?" Rick said, climbing up next to her and shielding his eyes against the mid-afternoon sun.

"Not yet," Valerie said. She lowered the monocular and glanced at her tablet. "He should be there." She raised the monocular again. "There! I've got him." She handed Rick the monocular. "See where that little stream runs down out of the foothills?" she said, pointing. "Just to the west of that."

"Aw, hell," Rick said, staring out through the monocular.

"What is it?" Valerie said, squinting as she tried to see what he was reacting to.

"Well, the good news is we found the supply pod," Rick said, handing the monocular back to her.

She raised them and almost immediately saw what the bad news was. "How many of them do you think there are?" she breathed. She could see Hardy's rail speeding up towards the foothills, and behind him, a cloud of dust being raised by too many Terriers to count. Behind them, off in the distance, was the supply pod.

"Come on," Rick said, grabbing her arm to pull her back towards the rail. "I'm not sticking around to get a count of them. They're headed our way. We need to get out of here."

"Wait!" Valerie said, resisting his pull. She adjusted the monocular, trying to bring the supply pod into focus. "Take a look at the supply pod. Do you see what I see?"

Rick took the monocular back looked through them and groaned. "Damn."

"I'll take that as a yes." Valerie sighed. "Oh, and I was so looking forward to coffee."

Rick turned and started back for the rail at a run. "Come on. We need to get to high ground fast."

"What about Hardy?" Valerie said, following him.

"He's on his own," Rick said, jumping into the rail and throwing it into reverse the moment Valerie was in. "If he's running from them, maybe he's still on our side. But there's no way I'm going to risk the two of us trying to stop that crowd down there. They find us, we're dead. And we have to let the others know what we found."

* * *

Tru was already asleep in the cabin of the Transrover when Devon got in. She closed the cabin door carefully, trying not to wake her, but starting the engine jolted her awake.

"Where's my dad?" Tru said, looking over at Devon warily.

"He's walking right now," Devon said, starting the Transrover up the long hill ahead of them.

"Why?" Tru asked.

"Um...I'll explain that in a minute," Devon said, making a show of driving the Transrover. "Let me get used to driving this thing."

Tru looked at her skeptically, but didn't say anything. She settled back and was asleep within moments, her breathing still sounding labored.

Devon glanced over at her as she drove, relieved to have the respite, though she knew she'd have to bite the bullet eventually. She ran through what she wanted to say again in her mind, and once again, it sounded all wrong.

An hour later, she was too slow in maneuvering to avoid a rock, and the Transrover lurched. Tru started awake.

"Sorry," Devon said, glancing over at her apologetically. "Go back to sleep," she added hopefully.

"It's okay," Tru said thickly, rubbing at her eyes. "I feel like I've slept for a month already."

"It's good for you," Devon said. "Julia said the best thing for you now was to rest."

"Yeah," Tru said, and turned to look uneasily at Devon. "Listen, if this is about what happened, I'm really sorry. I should have—"

"Oh, no!" Devon said quickly, shaking her head emphatically. "No, don't be sorry. It wasn't your fault."

"Oh," Tru said, surprised. She looked back out through the Transrover's windshield, waiting for Devon to continue. Finally she couldn't stand waiting any longer. "Then...why—?" she began.

"Damn," Devon said under her breath, then glanced over at Tru apologetically. "I'm really bad at this."

"At what?" Tru said, baffled.

"Apologizing," Devon said, and she almost laughed at Tru's wide-eyed look. "Yes, I'm apologizing to you. For treating you the way I have," she went on. "And for blaming you for what happened. I know," she added, forestalling Tru's question, "I said it wasn't your fault, and I meant it. But at first, I wanted to blame you because that was so much easier than admitting that it was Uly who screwed up. I've been pretending that he's still that same sweet kid that he was when he was sick, but he isn't. If he ever really was."

"He's not so bad," Tru protested.

Devon smiled at her. "I know he's not. He's just figuring out that he can do all the things he never could before, and he wants to do it all right now. I can hardly blame him for that. But more than that, it's ridiculous of me to blame you for it."

"Don't worry about it," Tru said, clearly uncomfortable. "I've done plenty of stuff you can blame me for."

Devon laughed. "You are a remarkable girl, Tru," Devon said, relieved to finally have broken through the dam holding back what she wanted to say. "You deserve to hear that from me. Your mother raised you well, and your father—" She broke off, trying to swallow the lump of guilt in her throat. "Your father," she continued, "is doing a far better job at parenting you than I am parenting Uly."

Tru shook her head. "Uly is way nicer than I am," she said, "and more respectful. I'm a pain in the—" She broke off, blushing. "But that's my fault, not my dad's."

"And anything good in Uly comes far more from him and from Yale's influence than it does from me," Devon said, half to herself, and then shook her head. "Don't mind me, I'm just wallowing in self-pity again." She sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you've done for Uly, not just out there, but all along. He's better for knowing you." She smiled at Tru wryly. "And I wanted you to know that before I apologize to your dad for how badly I treated him while you were gone."

"Oh," Tru said, trying to follow Devon's line of thinking, and failing. She blinked tiredly. "Okay."

"Go back to sleep," Devon said. "I've given you way too much to think about, and Julia will have my head if you start coughing again."

Tru tried to think of something to say, but even though she'd been sleeping almost non-stop since they got back, she was still so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time. The last thing she was aware of as she fell asleep was Devon's hand touching her head gently as the Transrover rumbled along. And how nice that felt.

* * *

"Alonzo," Melanie called on gear.

"What?" Alonzo snapped.

"Jeez, Alonzo," Artie said from the back of the ATV.

"How far out are you?" Melanie said.

"About five k," Alonzo said. "Why?"

"I need you to come back in," Melanie said.

"Why?"

"Because you didn't give Julia a chance to finish her conversation. And you both could fix everything if you'd just get your heads out of your asses and talk to each other!"

Alonzo didn't say anything.

"Unless, of course, you really are the spy, in which case I take it all back about Julia," Melanie continued.

"You know damned well—"

"Yes, I do," Melanie said with a dangerous edge to her voice. "But nobody else does. And I'm perfectly willing to make the accusation if you refuse to listen."

"You wouldn't," Alonzo said uneasily.

"If you were the Alonzo I know and love, I wouldn't. But right now?" Melanie left the question hanging in the air.

Alonzo swore. "Fine," he said. "I'll be back in an hour."

"Good," Melanie said. "She'll be waiting. And you'd better be nice."

"Don't push it, Mel," Alonzo said, turning the ATV.

* * *

Valerie gritted her teeth as they bounced along the ravine they'd come down. Rick was driving fast, recklessly fast, but Valerie wasn't about to argue with him. She was fairly certain the Terriers didn't know they were there yet. She hadn't gotten anything from them so far, and she was hoping that Rob and Sergei were right and whatever was screwing with the radio signals also interfered with their empathy.

_But even if they are right_, she thought, _there's no telling how far away is far enough._

"—roject," a voice came over the gear, almost unidentifiable through the static. "Somebody answer me, god damn it!"

"Hardy?" Valerie said.

"Finally!" he said. "Yeah! Listen, don't—" The rest was lost in static.

"Say again?" Valerie said.

"—ply pod," he said. "Stay away! Terriers—"

"We saw," Valerie said darkly. "And not just Terriers."

"You saw the rail?" Hardy said, his voice suddenly coming through more clearly.

Valerie checked her tablet. He was coming up the ravine behind them now, about three klicks behind. "Yeah, we saw it. How far are the Terriers behind you?" she asked.

"Um…" Hardy said, "maybe a klick. A little more, I guess."

Rick glanced over at Valerie. "Too close," he whispered.

"I think I'm gaining a little on them, though," Hardy continued. "Listen, have you been able to get through to the others?"

Valerie hesitated, glancing over at Rick. He shook his head.

"Valerie, come on, they need to know what's out there!" Hardy said. "If you haven't gotten through yet, you need to punch it and get to higher ground."

"What are you going to do?" Valerie said, surprised by the direction the conversation was taking.

"I'll try to slow these guys down," Hardy said. "There's a spot along here where I can maybe cut over to another way through the hills. I'll try to lead them along that so you'll have time to get away."

"And then what?" Rick cut in.

"And then I'll run like hell!" Hardy said, sounding like it was obvious. "But I won't lead them back to the others. If it comes to that, I'll get to high ground and hold them off as long as I can. Listen, here in about ten minutes, you need to find some rocks to hide in. I don't want them to know you're here."

"Okay," Valerie said dubiously.

"And if I don't make it back," Hardy said, "tell...aw, hell, it doesn't matter." He cut the channel.

Valerie looked over at Rick. "What the hell?" she said.

Rick shrugged, looking as confused as she felt.

* * *

Alonzo arrived back at the convoy late in the afternoon, and despite Melanie's warning, Julia still felt unprepared.

"Just tell him you're sorry to start with," Melanie murmured as Alonzo turned the ATV to pull in beside her.

Julia swallowed hard, then nodded.

Artie hopped off the back of the ATV and gave her an encouraging smile, then trotted off towards where Phoebe was talking to Todd.

Melanie turned to Alonzo, who was sitting sullenly in the ATV. "Be nice. You may not think you owe it to her," she said quietly, "but you owe it to me."

Alonzo looked at her for a long moment, but finally nodded, and Melanie followed Artie.

Julia took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was wrong. I should have talked to you instead of…" She trailed off uncertainly, then shook her head. "You were right. I jumped to conclusions. I didn't think it through."

He looked skeptical. "What happened?"

Julia looked chagrined. "What else? Melanie," she said as if that explained it all. She frowned and looked hard at him. "I need you to explain it to me," she said. "The Dante quote, why it made you so angry. Explain it like I don't have a clue."

Alonzo looked wary. "You're serious," he said.

"Yes," Julia said insistently. "I don't know what you think I intended in bringing it up, but I swear to you, I didn't mean it that way."

Alonzo looked at her for a long moment, and realized she really had no idea. _Oh, that's just great_, he thought. _She might not have thought I was the spy before that, but she sure had reason to after. What a mess._ He shook his head. "I figured you must have asked Yale about me, and that's why he said that quote when he got hit by the blast."

"What would I have asked him?" Julia said, suddenly exasperated. "And what could he have told me that would have been so bad?"

"That's just it: if you don't think I'm the spy already, you sure will after I tell you about it," Alonzo said, his jaw clenched.

Julia frowned. "But…" She stopped, shaking her head. "Tell me everything," she said.

Alonzo sighed. _Oh, screw it_, he thought finally._ She's not going to let it go. Just tell her and get it over with._ He looked past her to make sure the others had passed beyond earshot, then looked back at her. "I was helping a friend of mine, when I was in the CSF," he said. "During the mission I told you about—when I ended up in the cryopod. I'd nearly gotten myself pulled from the mission when I found out they were using worm bullets."

Her eyes widened, and he looked up at her, nodding. "Yeah, that's why I looked the way I did in the mess tent that day. I never expected to run into worm bullets again anywhere, least of all here."

"What was the mission?" Julia said, and she looked like she was braced for something.

"We were supposed to be strikebreaking, at a mining complex," Alonzo said, clearly uncomfortable with the memory.

"A mining complex," Julia repeated, not looking shocked, but like she'd been expecting it.

"Yeah, one of the asteroid stations. But when we got there, the lieutenant ordered the ground units to use worm bullets. They were going to blow up the whole complex. God, Julia, there were kids in there! I argued with the lieutenant, but Biko told me to shut up. I thought at first he was just going to follow orders, but then he told me he was going to try to get some of the miners out."

"Where?" Julia asked as if it was the most important question in the world. "Which asteroid?"

Alonzo smiled wryly. "That's why the Dante quote made me mad," he said. "I figured you must have gotten Yale to play you the recording." He sighed. "Biko said it to me, right before he went in. Because I'd been talking to him about Dante on the way out there—"

"Alonzo, which asteroid?" Julia repeated insistently.

"Aeneas," Alonzo said. "Since he's the guy who leads Dante through hell, I started telling Biko about it. We had to talk on comm a lot during sims on the way out to Aeneas, and I found out Biko was trying to get into OCS. He needed a college degree, so he was taking classes. When he said he was having trouble with classical lit, I started helping him."

"With Dante?" Julia said.

"Well, sort of. We started out with Shakespeare, and I ended up telling him about Dante and—"

"Alonzo, what happened? Did you get the miners out?"

Alonzo was taken aback by her intensity. "What's this about, Julia?"

"Just tell me," Julia said impatiently.

Alonzo frowned again, but went on. "Biko told me to pick him up at one of the surface hatches. He managed to round up a few of them—half a dozen kids and a few of their parents." He swallowed hard. "I'd just picked 'em up when we got hit. The missile hit the hold, and the whole ship blew apart. I barely made it—the emergency bolts blew the cockpit clear at the last second." He shook his head. "They told me I was lucky. Lucky!" He laughed bitterly, then looked over at Julia, expecting her to be looking at him with disgust or disappointment, but she didn't even look like she'd registered what he'd said. She was looking past him, clearly thinking.

"The man you were helping," Julia said, looking up at him suddenly. "Biko—was he on the ship when it blew up?"

Alonzo shook his head. "He said he had to stay behind, to try to get more people out if he could. I don't know what happened to him. I tried to find out, after I got out of coldsleep, but nobody would tell me anything, and—"

"What year was it when you ended up in the lifepod?" Julia cut in.

"Huh?" he said.

"What year was that? When you first went in, not when they got you out."

He blinked at her. "Why?"

"It was 2134, wasn't it?" she asked.

Alonzo nodded. "Close, anyway. 2133. What's going on, Julia?"

"What happened when you got picked up?" Julia said. "Who picked you up?"

"A mining survey team," he said.

"From the Heller Corporation," Julia said.

Alonzo's eyes went wide. "Is that how you know all this?" he said.

"What happened after they found you?" Julia asked, ignoring the question.

"Um...they brought the pod back to the stations, where they thawed me out." He frowned. "I figured they'd just chuck me out an airlock once they found out who I was, but—"

"But someone helped you," she said. "A man with light brown hair. Mid-thirties. Blue eyes."

"Yeah, really blue," Alonzo said, unnerved. _She said she didn't know what I was talking about, but obviously she does. What is she playing at?_ "Why are you asking all this? You already know it all."

"No," Julia said, shaking her head. "I don't. I'm figuring it out as I go. So how did this man help you? How did you avoid getting thrown out an airlock?"

"I told them I knew they were monitoring the comm, and I planned to get Biko arrested," he said bitterly. He ran his hand through his hair. "The guy who helped me, Mr. Blue Eyes, he told me to do it. He put together a doctored recording that 'proved' it." He looked at her, half-expecting her to step away from him, but she didn't seem at all surprised. "It wasn't true, but I said it anyway, and that and the recording made me look like a Council true believer."

Julia nodded slowly. "You thought I'd heard the recording," she said.

"Yeah," Alonzo said. "The Dante quote was part of it, after all."

"I haven't," Julia said, looking intently at him. "I swear. I didn't know it existed till now."

"Alonzo! Julia!" Devon called over the gear. "Get back up with the rest of us! Right now!"

"What's going on?" Julia said.

"Just get up here," Devon said. "I'll explain when you get here."

Julia climbed onto the back of the ATV and Alonzo pulled out, though he was still clearly rocked by what she'd said.

They caught up with the others quickly. They'd come to a stop, and Devon was standing by the Transrover, listening to Valerie and Rick.

"What is it?" Julia said, hopping off the ATV.

Devon turned to look at her, and her expression was grim. "Terriers," she said.

"Not just Terriers," Valerie said. "They had a Council rail with them. Whoever this group is, it isn't the group that I met. They were camped around the supply pod, waiting for us."

"Where's Hardy?" Alonzo asked.

"That's the other bad news," Rick said. "He was a lot closer to them. He was headed back up to us, but they were right on his—"

"Why would he have been closer to them?" Melanie said. "What was he doing?"

"I don't know," Valerie said. "We'd lost contact with him entirely for almost an hour before we picked up the supply pod signal."

"That doesn't mean anything," Julia said. "We couldn't contact you, either."

"How close are the Terriers?" Devon asked.

Rick shook his head. "We holed up in a bunch of rocks," he said. "I figured if we kept running, we'd just lead them straight to you. So we hid. And Hardy led them away from us."

"How do you know?" Melanie said. "For all we know, he could be leading them straight to us."

Valerie looked uncomfortable. "She's right, Rick. He said he was going to try to keep them away from the group, but..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

Devon looked worried. "How long did you two hide?" she asked.

"Almost an hour," Rick said. "If he was going to bring them down on us, I think he'd have done it by now."

Someone at the front of the crowd gave a shout, and they all turned to see a cloud of dust approaching.

"Damn," Danziger said. "Everybody, grab a mag-pro or a handgun! Get the rails and form a circle around one side of the Transrover!" There was a mad scramble, and Devon grabbed Uly and threw him into the cab of the Transrover.

"Tru, you keep him in there, whatever happens," she said. "I'm counting on you, Tru."

"Mom—" Uly began, but Tru nodded, wide-eyed, and Devon slammed the door shut.

"It's Hardy!" Rick called out, looking out at the setting sun through his monocular.

"Any sign of Terriers?" Danziger said.

"Not so far," Rick said, and soon after, Hardy pulled up.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys," he said climbing out of his rail.

Devon walked up to him. "Hand over your mag-pro, Hardy," she said.

Hardy looked shocked. "What?"

"You heard me," Devon said, and she glanced over her shoulder. Rick, Helen and Rob all leveled their mag-pros at him.

Hardy swallowed. "Look," he said, raising his hands placatingly, "I don't know what you guys think, but I just spent the afternoon trying to shake a bunch of Terriers, so—"

"What I think," Devon said evenly, "is that there's a chance you told those Terriers where we are."

Hardy's face hardened. "I'm not the spy, Adair."

"Maybe you aren't," Devon said. "But until I know for sure there isn't a herd of Terriers and Council agents coming down on us, I'd just as soon have you away from weapons. The mag-pro," she prompted.

There was a tense moment, and then Hardy turned very slowly, took the mag-pro out of the rail, and handed it to her.

Devon took it, turned to Danziger and said, "Take him with you in the rail. The rest of you, we're turning north. I want to get at least another five k in before we stop, so let's get moving." She turned to Alonzo. "I need you and Artie to scout ahead to the north. Okay?"

"Yeah," Alonzo said, though he seemed almost dazed. "Sure." He looked back at Julia.

She nodded at him. "We'll finish our talk when we stop for the night, okay?"

Devon frowned as Alonzo drove off with Artie perched on the back of the ATV. "What was that about?" she asked Julia.

Julia smiled reassuringly. "I'll tell you later, I promise. I need to find out some more first."

"Please tell me it's good news," Devon said feelingly. "I don't think I could take any more bad today."

"I hope so," Julia said. She looked back out at Alonzo. "I really hope so."


	8. Chapter 8

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 8

* * *

_A/N: So I'm such a review junkie that when people say, "Post the next chapter NOW!" I get antsy, and the idea of carefully editing goes out the window._

_Things get interesting from here on out. FYI, to prepare you for the ending of this chapter, I am sappier than a Vermont maple, and I'm taking pity on all of you for suffering through the angst of the last eight chapters. And yes, there's a giant sign reading "METAPHOR" flashing over the last paragraph._

_Just know this—it's still me (meaning more angst and whump en route), and this far from over. I'll be posting more very soon. But this is like the top of a roller coaster's first hill. And those of you who've read my Promethean Heat know how I feel about roller coasters._

* * *

It took them another three hours of travel to get to the spot Alonzo and Artie found to the north. Danziger had gone ahead in the rail with Hardy zip-tied to the roll bar to start setting up the perimeter so they'd have it in place as soon as the rest arrived.

The last hour driving the Transrover was stressful for Devon. She'd never had to nurse a nearly-empty battery before, and when they finally pulled in well after dark, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"We would have been fine," Tru said. "You could have gotten another two k out of this before it went dry."

"Now you tell me," Devon groaned, and Tru laughed. "You're feeling better, aren't you?" Devon added, noticing Tru's color looked better even in the dim light of the Transrover cab.

"Yeah," Tru said. "It doesn't feel so hard to breathe anymore." She glanced over at Devon. "Thanks for what you said before," she said, smiled awkwardly, and scrambled out of the cab.

Devon breathed another sigh of relief, and followed her. Hardy was still sitting in the rail, looking grim.

"We're just about set up with the perimeter," Helen said, coming up. "And Danziger says he managed to extend the range of the sensors a little bit. Don't ask me how."

"That's good," Devon said absently, staring at Hardy.

"And Yale already got your tent set up. It's just over there," Helen said, pointing. When Devon didn't respond, she asked, "Do you really think he's the spy?"

"I wish I knew," Devon said.

"He isn't," Julia said, joining them with Melanie at her side. "At least, I don't think he is."

Devon looked sidelong at her, frowning in surprise. "Really?" she said. "After everything he said to you, I'd have thought—"

Julia was shaking her head. "That's actually part of why I don't think it's him. I can't imagine a Council agent being that obvious."

Devon nodded. "You have a point," she said, remembering her earlier comment about his lack of subtlety.

"But it's not just that," Julia went on. "It just doesn't make sense that the spy would be one of the crew. The Council would have wanted someone with Eden Project."

"Oh, so now you think I'm—" Melanie began, but stopped when Julia shot her a pleading look.

Devon considered that for a long moment. It made a lot of sense. And she had to admit, part of the reason she was so ready so suspect Hardy was that she just didn't like the man.

"So what do we do with him?" Helen asked.

"We keep him under lock and key," Julia said.

"Huh?" Melanie said. "But...you just said—"

"It's the only way to prove he's innocent," Julia said. She looked around at everyone. "I'm not naïve," she said. "I'm not certain about any of this. But Hardy didn't know where the winter camp was going to be, did he?" She looked over at Devon, who shook her head.

"I hadn't told anyone else where we were going yet," she said. "Rob, Sergei," Devon called, and they came over, along with Danziger and several of the others. "Did you tell anybody where the winter camp site you found is?"

"No, I figured we'd be there tomorrow, so it didn't matter," Rob said, and Sergei shook his head as well.

"So if we set up our camp there, and the Terriers and the Council find us anyway—" Julia began.

"—then we know for sure he isn't the spy," Melanie said, nodding.

"Not for sure," Danziger said. "They could find us by accident. They do know where we're headed, at least in general."

"He's right," Helen said, looking steadily at Julia. "And he wouldn't even have to actively report in for them to find us. You had a tracking device on you, and you didn't even know it."

"True," Julia said, "but Melanie would have picked up a signal like that, right?"

Melanie nodded. "Right after we found out about the spy, I set up an alert to sound if any transmission goes out like the one that Julia's encryption chip was broadcasting," she said.

"But you destroyed the encryption chip from the agent," Helen said. "So there's no way he could be broadcasting anyway."

"Unless he got another one from the agent at the supply pod," Devon said.

Melanie looked troubled by that. "I'll check my logs," she said, and took off towards the trailer to get her bag.

"In the meantime," Devon said, "don't anybody hassle Hardy. If he is the spy, we'll deal with it when we know for sure. And if he isn't, none of you need to be carrying around a load of guilt for doing something stupid. All right?"

There were reluctant nods all around, but to Devon's great relief, no one really seemed all that upset by her order. _Nobody wants to believe any of us is a spy_, she thought as she headed for her tent. _Not even Hardy_.

Devon pulled aside the tent flap and stepped in. Uly was already asleep, and she envied him that. It had been an exhausting day.

And then she realized with a jolt that Yale wasn't in the tent. She whirled and ducked back out, looking around wildly the moment she got outside.

He was standing just beyond the tent next to theirs, his back to her, and his shoulders were hunched. She saw a faint flash of red light beyond him and realized that he was only meters away from the perimeter Danziger had set up. _Everyone's on edge_, she thought uneasily, _waiting for the Terriers to hit us. If he trips that alarm-_

"Yale?" she called softly, trying not to startle him, but he didn't respond. She hesitated, then tapped her gear. "Julia, could you come over to my tent?" she said, keeping her voice low.

"Devon?" Julia said. "What's wrong? Is it Yale?"

"Yes," she said. "Hurry."

"On my way," Julia said.

"You can't find solace, can you?" Yale said, and Devon looked back up at him, but it wasn't his voice. It was the voice she'd heard quoting Dante. He didn't say anything for a long moment, and Devon was about to say something when he said, "And you want me to be your scapegoat, take the fall for the whole thing. What's the story you're going to tell about me?"

There was another long pause, and Devon held her breath. _Come on, Julia, hurry!_

"I'll show you rogue!" Yale said suddenly, and he took a step forward. Directly towards the perimeter.

"Yale, no!" she said, lunging towards him. She grabbed his left arm as he was about to take another step forward, and the moment she did, he whirled, his right arm raised, and Devon let go and stepped back, raising her hands. "Yale, it's me!"

He stepped towards her, his arm still raised, his hand clenched tightly in a fist, and she backed away, suddenly afraid of the man she would have trusted with her life.

"Yale!" she said again. "It's me, Devon! Please!"

He blinked, then looked horrified. He staggered back, lowering his arm.

"No, Yale, stop!" Devon said. "Don't move!"

"Devon?" Julia said from behind her.

Yale had stopped, breathing hard, but he looked like he was ready to run.

"Yale, listen to me," Devon said steadily, trying to keep her voice calm. "Everything's all right. But I need you to come over here."

"No!" Yale said, shaking his head wildly. "Devon, I nearly hurt you!"

"I know that," Devon said. "But you stopped yourself! It's okay!"

"Danziger," she heard Julia said behind her. "Shut down the perimeter! Just do it! Hurry!"

"It is not okay!" Yale said. "I cannot allow myself to put you at risk any longer."

Devon didn't like the sound of that. "Yale, don't do anything crazy," she said.

Yale actually laughed at that, a raw, rasping laugh that set off warning bells in Devon's head. "Crazy? I am crazy. You do not wish to see it, but I am. I have to protect you from myself. I must leave!"

"No, Yale, you don't have to go to protect them," Julia said, stepping up next to Devon. "We're close to getting answers for you. Just give me a little more time!"

"Will these answers ensure that I am not a danger to anyone in this camp?" Yale said.

Julia opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. She shook her head. "I can't guarantee that," she said reluctantly. "But isn't it worth trying? Think this through, Yale. You're a danger to us wherever you are. You know where we are, where we're going, what weapons and equipment we have. If the Council gets hold of you, they could download all that information from you, and you couldn't stop them."

Yale looked sick at the thought. He shook his head. "I cannot allow that," he said.

"Then come with us," Devon said, pleading.

"No!" He looked at Julia. "You must sedate me! It is the only way to keep me from harming anyone!"

"Yale, we've been through this," Julia said. "It's too risky—"

"That was before I nearly struck Devon!" Yale said. "Julia, please!"

Julia looked torn, but to Devon's surprise, she finally nodded. "But you have to come to the med tent," she said, smiling grimly. "I'm not going to drag you over there."

Yale looked wary, but nodded, and Julia led him towards the med tent. As they went, Devon tapped her gear. "Danziger, you can turn the perimeter back on again," she said.

"You okay, Adair?" he said, and there was genuine concern in his voice, and she realized just how shaky her voice must have been.

"I don't know," she said honestly. She closed the channel and followed Julia into the med tent.

"What's going on?" Melanie said as they came in.

"I'll explain in a minute," Julia said, then turned to Yale. He still looked like he was ready to bolt, but he lay down on Julia's bunk when she nodded towards it. She pulled out a vial from her dispensary and loaded it into a hypospray.

"Are you sure about this?" she said, turning back to Yale. "Just give me a few hours—"

"In a few hours, I could kill someone, Julia," Yale said. "Please!"

Julia took a deep breath, and administered the sedative. Yale subsided immediately into sleep.

"How long will he be out?" Devon asked, feeling wrung out.

"Not as long as he'd like," Julia said. "About six hours. Hopefully, that'll be long enough for me to find out what I need to know."

"Which is what?" Melanie asked before Devon could.

Julia glanced over at Devon, then shook her head. "I'd rather not say till I know for sure. Keep an eye on him, Mel," Julia said. "Scan him every hour, and let me know if there's any change in his brain activity, especially if it starts to drop. If he wakes up before I get back, and he gets agitated, give him this." She handed Melanie a vial. "It's the mildest sedative I have."

"Every hour?" Melanie said, looking glum. "Great. Another sleepless night."

Devon followed Julia out of the med tent. "Where are you going?" she said.

Julia stopped and turned to look at her. "Devon—" she began, then hesitated. "I may have a way to find out more about Yale's past, but I could be wrong. And even if I'm right, and we are able to reconstruct the events he's fighting to remember, I can't be sure that will help." Her expression changed, and Devon realized it was the same look she'd had when she'd told everyone about O'Neill's death. "You need to prepare yourself for the possibility we might not be able to help him."

"No," Devon whispered.

"Devon," Julia said, putting her hand on Devon's arm, "I'll do everything I can to stabilize him. But keeping him sedated is not a long-term solution. I need you to go talk to Valerie. See how far she's gotten with his programming, and explain to her that we're going to need something soon."

Devon nodded, unable to find words, and watched as Julia walked purposefully over towards the Transrover. She turned and started for Valerie's tent, hoping she was still awake. _Please_, Devon thought, _let us find something. I can't lose him._

* * *

Alonzo looked up as Julia approached his bunk. She seemed nervous.

"Don't tell me you're still worried about me being the spy," he said tersely.

"No," she said instantly. "No, not at all."

"Good," he said, and a small part of the knot of anger still coiled in his stomach faded. "So do you want to tell me how you know so much about my past?"

"This man, Biko," she said abruptly. "What was he like?"

Alonzo shook his head, struggling to keep up with wherever Julia was going. "He was a non-com. Sergeant Andre Biko." He smiled faintly, remembering. "I don't know what he looks like. I never met him face-to-face. But you still haven't answered my—"

"But you've heard his voice," Julia interrupted. "You'd recognize it?"

"Absolutely," Alonzo said. "I recognized it the other day, when Yale was playing a recording—"

"What?" Julia said, and she looked eager, almost hopeful.

"Yale was playing a recording. While you and Devon and Danziger were out looking for the kids," Alonzo said. "I thought he was doing it to get to me—"

"He wasn't. He didn't even know you were there," Julia said, and she looked relieved, then excited. "What else did you talk about besides Dante? You and Biko, I mean. Before the mines," Julia added.

Alonzo blinked again, caught off balance by her change of subject. "What? Look, Julia, I don't know what you're trying—"

"Alonzo, please," she said insistently. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but this is really important. And I don't know how much time I have. I'll explain later, I promise. What did you talk about?"

He frowned for a moment, then sighed. "I don't know. A lot of stuff. Shakespeare, Cervantes. He loved that my mother named me after Don Quixote," Alonzo said.

"Poetry?" Julia asked.

"Yeah," Alonzo said, deciding it would be easier just to answer her questions and see where she went with it. "He liked the more recent stuff better than the classics. He even introduced me to some stuff I'd never seen before."

"Like what?" Julia said, leaning forward and studying his face intently.

Alonzo looked baffled. "Why do you—? Oh, never mind. Um…" He tried to remember. "There was this 20th century poet. I think she was from Russia or someplace like that. A really weird name—"

"Szymborska," Julia murmured. "Wislawa Szymborska." She looked up at Alonzo, who was looking at her like she'd started speaking in tongues. "She's Yale's favorite poet, Alonzo."

Alonzo went white. "You mean…?"

"Yes," Julia said, nodding. "That's exactly what I mean. And now you know why this is so important."

Alonzo shook his head. "How is that even possible? How could he be here?"

"The same way you could," Julia said. "I have no idea about the specifics, but he must have been in coldsleep for an extended period. Now, I need you to remember everything you can about Biko. Everything. Even the tiniest details."

Alonzo felt like he'd been through a CSF interrogation by the time Julia seemed satisfied. She refused to let him stop, going over every detail from the moment he met Biko all the way through his deposition for the CSF after he'd thawed out. By the time they finished, it was nearly dawn, and Alonzo felt like he'd relived those awful events in real time. But once Julia had explained why she needed to know, he'd been more than willing to help.

"So you're certain about this?" Alonzo said as Julia started for the med tent.

"It's the only possible explanation," Julia said.

"I can't believe it," Alonzo said, following her. "All this time, he was right here in front of me, and I didn't know it. I feel like such an idiot."

Julia paused, and Alonzo nearly ran into her as she turned to face him, her expression fierce. "You are an idiot! If you'd just told—!" she said angrily, but then stopped, shaking her head, looking down at the ground. She took a steadying breath and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't—that isn't fair."

And looking at her, in at that moment, Alonzo knew exactly what he was going to do when they got to New Pacifica.

By the time he'd processed that thought, Julia had turned back towards the med tent, and slapped at her gear. "Devon," she said. "I need you at the med tent. Now."

"What's wrong?" she said. "Is Yale okay?"

"He's fine. But I have answers for you now. And for him. I think what I have to tell him is going to fix things for him, but if it doesn't…"

"Valerie says if you give her another day, uninterrupted, she might be able to come up with a fix," Devon said.

"I said another day, uninterrupted, with coffee," Valerie said over the gear. "Without coffee, we're talking two, maybe three days."

"You can have my ration," Julia said.

"You still have some!?" Valerie said joyfully. "God, Julia, if you give me coffee, I will fix Yale and then I'll build you another synthlab. A tricked-out, sequined synthlab."

"It's yours," Julia said. "I'll send Melanie over with it in a minute." She turned and went into the tent, holding the flap for Alonzo.

"So my approach worked?" Melanie said, blinking tiredly and smiling at Julia as she saw Alonzo follow her in.

Julia smiled absently at her, nodded, and looked over at Yale. "He's still asleep?"

"Mmm," Melanie said. "No change last time I checked, which was about ten minutes ago."

Julia hesitated, then grabbed a hypospray, slapped in a vial, injected it into Yale, and started scanning him.

"Your approach?" Alonzo said under his breath to Melanie.

"Sometimes I give good advice," Melanie said primly. "You should remember that."

Devon came in. "How is he?" she said.

Julia ignored her, still scanning Yale's vitals. "He should be waking up at any moment. When he does, Alonzo, you know what to say?"

"Yeah," Alonzo said, looking nervous. "But what if he doesn't remember?"

"Remember what?" Devon said, looking back and forth between them.

"We hope Valerie can work fast," Julia said, still ignoring her. She turned and rummaged in one of her medical cases, and pulled out a small tin. She handed it to Melanie. "Would you take this over to Valerie?"

Melanie glared at her. "You've been holding out on me, Julia." She took the tin, looking at it dubiously. "And this isn't going to be nearly enough for Valerie." She left the tent, and Julia turned back to Yale, looking sharply down at him as he stirred. "Yale?" she said tentatively.

His eyes opened, and the look of terror was almost instantly back.

"Hey, relax, Biko," Alonzo said breezily, leaning over the bunk to look down at him, smiling. "I told you we'd make it out okay. Remember? _E quindi uscimmo, a riveder le stelle_. I still owe you a beer."

Yale looked at him, blinked several times, and then frowned. "Solace?" he said, and it was the same voice they'd been hearing from him during flashbacks.

"In the flesh," Alonzo said, grabbing his hand. "God, I'm so sorry about what happened. I never should have gotten you into that—"

"No," Yale said. "No way, Solace. I was already in it. I couldn't have done anything different, even if you hadn't been there. I'm just glad you made it."

"I'm glad we both did," Alonzo said, blinking hard. "All these years, I thought you were dead."

Yale's face went oddly blank for an instant, then he looked at Alonzo again. "I think I was," Yale said, and it was Yale's normal accent.

"Yale?" Alonzo said.

He nodded slowly, looking confused.

"But you remember?" Julia said.

"Some," Yale said. "It is difficult." He frowned, looking at Alonzo's hands clasping his normal hand.

"Yale, I need to be sure you understand this," Julia said. "The man you were before they did this to you," she gestured at his mechanical arm, "was a good man. He tried to save innocent people, tried to save children. Whatever you have to be afraid of, you don't need to be afraid of him."

"But I may still be unstable," he said, though he sounded far less certain than he had before.

"Yes," Julia said, "you might be. But now you know the memories that have been coming out are memories you don't have to be afraid of. They may be unpleasant, even painful, but they are memories of something you should be proud of."

Julia could feel Alonzo's eyes on her. "What you did on Aeneas was brave, one of the bravest acts I've ever heard of. You tried to save children, Yale. And the Council punished you for it by putting you in coldsleep for god knows how long and then turning you into a cyborg." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't let them punish you any more by letting yourself be afraid of who you are."

He let out a shuddering breath. "What do I do?"

Julia took an indecisive breath. "At this point, I think all we can do is try to go on the way we have been. I'm hopeful that knowing this will help you to avoid more blackouts or flashbacks. But even if you keep having them, they don't necessarily mean you're unstable. And even if you are, there might be something we can do. Valerie thinks she can find a way to rewrite your programming."

Yale nodded slowly, then frowned. "But why am I only remembering that one event, on Aeneas? Why not something of my family?"

Julia sighed, wishing she could give him those memories. "I don't know, Yale." She smiled tentatively at him. "But now that you know all this, I hope some of the other memories will start to come back."

By that point, it was obvious Devon was desperate to ask questions, and Yale needed some time to process all of it, so Julia tried to explain it all to her.

Devon shook her head. "How on earth did you figure this out?"

Julia glanced at Alonzo. "Apparently I'm living a Dickens novel," she said, smiling wryly, and showed Alonzo her thumb ring. "Remember what I said about this belonging to my—"

"Great-grandmother," Alonzo said, suddenly understanding what she meant. He ran his hand through his hair. "This is crazy."

"Somebody want to clue me in?" Devon said.

"My grandfather was the man who got Alonzo away from the Council after he was rescued," Julia said. "And I'm almost certain that means my great-grandmother and her youngest son were on the dropship he was flying. I knew they'd both died on Aeneas, I just didn't know how or why. Until now."

"I know," Alonzo said, smiling wryly at Devon's incredulous look. "It sounds impossible—the odds against the three of us ending up here together have to be astronomical. It's almost enough to make you believe there's somebody up there planning this stuff."

"You do not believe in a higher power?" Yale asked Alonzo.

Alonzo's face darkened. "God and I had a little falling out after he decided it was cool to blow up a bunch of kids and leave me here to live with it."

Yale winced.

"Hey, Yale, it's not your fault that happened," Alonzo said quickly. "And I'm pretty much okay with being alive now." He winked, and Yale smiled a little.

"And I wouldn't say a higher power was involved," Julia said. "At least not that high."

Devon looked at her. "Wait—you mean your mother?"

Julia nodded. "It would certainly make sense. I know she had access to Yale near the time he became a cyborg." She recounted the argument she'd overheard. "It might have been too risky for her to intercede at that point, but it would make sense for her to have arranged for Yale to end up with you, Devon."

"If that's the case, then Yale can't be dangerous," Devon said, looking relieved.

"No, Devon, wouldn't go that far," Julia said, wishing she could tell her something else. "I can't be certain she was involved in that way. And even if she was, I can't begin to tell you what her motives might have been. But…I'm hopeful."

Devon studied her for a moment. _I'll bet you are_, she thought. _It would explain so much, and in the best possible way_. She sent out a silent plea to any higher power that might be listening that it was true, and then turned to Yale. "Come on. Let's go back to our tent. It'll actually be quiet there—Uly's asleep." She smiled.

Yale looked conflicted, and Julia could imagine his fears of what he might do to Uly battling his desire to see the little boy. She breathed a sigh of relief when the fears lost and Yale followed Devon out of the tent.

* * *

They got on the road again as quickly as they could load up, with Hardy riding on the back of the Transrover, his hands still ziptied. He hadn't said a word to anyone while they packed, which was a relief to Devon. Between the fear of a Terrier attack and the crisis with Yale, she didn't think she could handle anything else.

"How's Yale?" Danziger said, coming up to her as she finished loading her tent onto the trailer.

"Better," she said, smiling tentatively at him. "We're not out of the woods yet, but we're better off than we were last night."

"Good," he said gruffly, and turned to climb into the Transrover cab to join Tru.

"John," Devon said, "wait." He turned and looked at her warily. "I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to say anything to you. It's been kind of crazy since we got back with the kids, and between Yale and Hardy—well, I should have made the time, but I—"

"Spit it out, Adair," he said. "We need to get moving."

Devon stiffened, irritated at his brusqueness, but swallowed her pride. "I'm sorry for what I said to you before," she said in a rush. "When I thought Uly might be—" She stopped, swallowing hard. "None of that was your fault, or Tru's, and I shouldn't have said any of it. It was unfair of me to take out my fears on you, especially when you were just as scared as I was. I'm really sorry."

Danziger looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

"So…that's what I wanted to say," she said uncertainly, and turned to leave.

"Adair," Danziger said, and she stopped and looked back at him. "Once we get the winter camp set up, you need to finish your gun training."

"Oh," Devon said, surprised. "Okay."

"I'll be in touch," he said, and climbed into the Transrover.

* * *

Yale spent most of the morning talking to Alonzo as they walked, but it didn't seem to lessen his worry. If anything, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, and he seemed relieved when they made it to the site that Rob and Sergei had picked out.

It was a perfect spot. A jagged series of rocks jutted out of the earth near where the spur of foothills they'd been paralleling jutted out from the main mountain range running north to south. The rocks formed a broad U in one spot, a little meadow nestled in at their base, with a stream running across the open end of the U. They'd be protected by rocks on three sides, and by the stream on the fourth.

"I see why Rob and Sergei liked this," Devon said. "It couldn't be much better."

"And we got here not a moment too soon," Melanie said, looking up at the midday sun as the rest of the group started unloading the trailer.

"Why?" Devon said. She followed Melanie's look, but the sun was still obscured by thick clouds. "The cloud cover isn't going to break up is it? Should we wait to put up the domes?"

"No," Melanie said. "That's not the problem." She pulled out her tablet and called up an image. "I was looking at some of the sat images from the last few days. I had a lot of time to study them last night," she added, and yawned. "Anyway, see this?" She pointed to a swirl of clouds shaped like an apostrophe just to the northwest of the continent.

"Is that a storm?" Devon said, unsure of what she was looking at.

"I think so. I had Yale load all of his files on weather into my tablet a while back, and long story short, when you get that spiral thingy going on, it's bad," Melanie said. "And it's headed this way."

"How long till it gets here?" Devon asked.

"I have no idea," Melanie said. "I'm not even certain it will. It looks like it's on track to hit us, but it doesn't seem to be following a steady line, or moving at a steady rate. And who knows what the mountain range will do to it. We could be looking at a few days, or a week. It could turn and run out to sea again. Or it could speed up and hit us tomorrow."

Devon called Rick and Rob over. "You're still sure you want to set up the domes?" Rick said as he came up. "I mean, if we have to move camp—"

"We won't be moving camp until the winter is over," Devon said emphatically. "If the Terriers or the Council or flying monkeys attack us, we make our stand here. I'm tired of running, and the domes will be a lot better protection than the tents if they do attack. So where did you plan to set them up?"

"The flattest spots are farther back from the stream," Rob said, turning to show her. "And I'd like to have some open ground on this side of the stream anyway."

"That way," Rick put in, "anybody coming after us first has to get up the bank of the stream, and then go through a kill zone."

"A what?" Melanie said.

Rick smiled thinly. "Todd has a thing for military history," he said. "He was really excited when he saw this spot. A kill zone is a spot where you want to channel the people attacking you so you can concentrate your fire there."

"See, we use the rocks along the base of the cliffs on both sides as cover," Rob said, pointing, "and that way we catch them in a crossfire."

Devon swallowed hard at that thought.

"Exactly," Rick said. "So I figure we set up one dome there," he pointed to a spot about thirty meters back from where the cliffs met the river, "and the other one farther back. Then if they do come, we move all the unarmed people into the rear dome."

Devon nodded. "How fast can you get the domes set up?"

"Three days," Rick said. "Maybe."

Devon shook her head. "You get two."

Rick looked worried. "Why?"

"We might have weather coming in," Melanie said.

Rob raised his eyebrows. "Okay," he said. "We'll make it happen. I can't guarantee we'll have the camouflaging done by then, though. Phoebe and Inez have the biocord netting just about ready, but it's going to be hard getting that into place."

"Move fast," Devon said, looking up at the sky uneasily.

* * *

As it turned out, they were able to move a lot faster than Rick had expected. Yale threw himself into helping with the construction with a single-minded fierceness that worried Devon. His cybernetically-enhanced strength allowed him to move pieces that would have taken two or more people to move otherwise, and he refused nearly every offer of help.

_He's trying to work himself to death_, Devon thought. _Or at least to the point of collapse._

He also seemed to be avoiding Alonzo. _Almost as much as Julia is_, Devon thought, glancing over at the rear dome, the one they were calling Dome One. Initially, they'd planned on housing everyone in the two domes, but Julia had insisted that they needed to keep the med tent, since she'd need a way to keep people in isolation if they became ill.

Devon had been uneasy about it, but she'd given in. _We can always pull her into the dome if we have to_, she thought. So they'd arranged the med tent so it was tucked in behind the dome, with the back door opening onto it so they could heat it more effectively but still use it as an isolation area if they needed to. To no one's surprise, Julia seemed glad to have the distance from everyone.

Especially from Alonzo. Apparently the revelation of Alonzo's past hadn't cleared the air the way Devon had hoped it would. If anything, it seemed like things were worse between them, though the blame for that seemed to have shifted dramatically to Julia.

"I don't get it," Helen said when Devon mentioned it to her as they ate dinner inside their newly-constructed dome. "I know he said some things to her that were pretty harsh, but it doesn't seem like she's really mad at him."

"I don't think she is," Devon said. "I just don't know what she is feeling."

"They'll get past it," Helen said confidently. "They just need some time. It's not like they haven't been through something like this before. Alonzo's pretty persistent, you know." She winked.

_I hope he stays that way_, Devon thought uneasily.

* * *

"Hey, Julia," Melanie said, coming into the med tent from Dome One. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Julia said absently, pulling a microscope out of a case and setting it on her lab table. "It'll be nice not to have to pack all this up again tomorrow."

Melanie nodded. "Actually, that brings up something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Julia said, turning to look questioningly at her.

"See, almost everybody's moving into Dome One, since it's the safest, which means..." Melanie said, and then faltered.

Julia smiled. "There's a lot of space in Dome Two. And more privacy," she said. "Right?"

Melanie actually blushed. "Yeah," she said.

"And you want to move in with Rob," Julia finished.

Melanie nodded, and looked nervous. "You don't mind, do you? It's not that I don't like rooming with you. It's been really nice. But—"

"I don't mind at all," Julia said, trying not to let her relief show. As much as she liked Melanie, there were too many times when she just needed to be by herself. _And Melanie can be exhausting_, she thought wryly.

Melanie looked relieved, then frowned. "Why are you so eager to get rid of me?" she said.

"I'm not," Julia said, laughing. "I'll miss you, I promise."

Melanie gave her a searching look, then smiled. "You know, this is sort of an opportunity for you, too."

Julia's smile vanished.

"Come on, Julia, you apologized, and Alonzo told me he doesn't blame you," Melanie persisted. "So this is the part where you kiss and make up."

_If only it were that easy_, Julia thought, and for the thousandth time, she remembered his face, taut with anger, when he said—

"Hey, now, what's got you so miserable all of a sudden?" Melanie said, ducking her head to catch Julia's eye. "Things are looking up—we're halfway to New Pacifica, you figured out how to help Yale, and Alonzo's not the spy. It's all good!"

"And the Terriers are out there, with the Council, we still don't know who the spy is, and our food situation is shaky at best." Julia forced a smile. "I know, I know," she said. "I'm just used to brooding, that's all. It's a hard habit to break."

Melanie didn't look convinced, but it was enough to mollify her for the moment.

* * *

"Hey, Adair," Danziger said, coming into Dome One. "You got a minute?"

"Sure," Devon said, trying to sound nonchalant. But she felt herself getting nervous, and she wondered why she was so tied up in knots over getting back into his good graces.

"I was talking to Rick, and now that we have the domes set up, we're thinking it's a good time to go after the supply pod they found." He held up his hand to forestall her protest. "I know, you're worried about the Terriers and the Council. But we figure we can cut through the foothills in a rail and scout out the situation. If they're still there, we bug out. If not, we can make a run in, grab the stuff we can, and bring it back."

Devon shook her head. "It's too dangerous," she insisted. "What if they're waiting for you? Or worse, what if they hide and follow you back? You could lead them right here."

"I think it's a risk we have to take," Danziger said, frowning. "You know how worried Julia's been about our protein sources. And we don't have nearly enough winter gear to send out as many hunting parties as we're likely to need. But the thing that really has me worried is ammunition. What we have isn't gonna hold out forever, especially if we get into a firefight."

"I know that," Devon said, beginning to get annoyed, "Rick and I already talked about that a couple of days ago." _And you already knew that, too_, she thought. "But we're not going to run out in the next few days. Melanie says there's a storm coming in, and I don't want anybody caught out in the middle of it."

"We're willing to go," he said persistently. "We talked to Melanie. She says the storm could be a few days off yet. We could be to the pod and back in a day and a half."

"And you'd be out there on your own, overnight, with hostile Terriers and Council agents looking for you," Devon said. "No, I won't allow it." She stopped as Danziger rolled his eyes. Her look hardened. "I mean it, Danziger. We'll go after it once I'm sure it's safe."

"Which will be when hell freezes over," Danziger said disgustedly. "You know damned well there isn't going to be a time when we're sure."

"Don't push me, Danziger," Devon said coldly.

He glared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "Yeah, I've seen you angry enough already," he said, and turned on his heel, slamming the door to the dome as he left.

_Oh, that went well_, Devon thought, frustrated. _What do I have to do? Grovel? And he __knows__ I'm right! He's just arguing for the sake of argument._ She had thought maybe he was getting over it when he told her she needed to finish gun training, but now she wondered if maybe that was just him finding another way to twist the knife.

_And how long would it take you to forgive him if he'd said those things to you?_ an annoying voice in her head asked.

* * *

"Julia?" Alonzo called from the hallway from the dome into the med tent. "Can I come in?"

There was no sound for what seemed like a long time, and Alonzo was beginning to wonder if she was really still in there when she pulled the tent flap aside. "What did you need?" she said, looking wary.

Alonzo glanced back at the dome, hoping no one was listening. "I'd like to talk to you," he said.

Julia looked like she was trying to come up with an excuse not to, so he shouldered his way past her into the med tent.

Julia looked like she was bracing for an attack when he turned to face her. "About what?" she said, though it was clear she knew what to expect.

"You've been avoiding me again," he said bluntly. "Why?"

Julia looked steadily at him, her chin tilted up slightly. "I'm not avoiding you," she said, but when he returned her gaze, she looked away.

"Look, I get it if you're angry at me. You're right, I should have just told you everything. But I really thought you already knew," he said.

"I'm not angry at you," Julia said, and he noticed the slight emphasis on the last word. She turned and started putting some of the medical equipment on the lab table into one of the cases.

"Then what's wrong?" Alonzo said, his voice rising.

"There's nothing—" Julia began.

"Stop lying to me!" Alonzo snapped, and Julia looked shocked. "Damn it, Julia, we got into this mess because we weren't talking to each other! So talk to me!"

"Don't yell at me," Julia said, still facing away from him.

"Don't make me," Alonzo said. "Every time something happens between us, you do this. You shut down, you walk away, and it takes us weeks to get back to where we started. I'm tired of it, Julia. For god's sake, I told you I loved you! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Julia's head lowered slightly, and he could see the tension in her shoulders, but she didn't say anything.

"Look at me!" Alonzo said, grabbing her shoulder.

She whirled, knocking his hand away with hers, and she stepped away, trying to put distance between them.

"Do you care about me?" Alonzo said, following her. "Do you?"

"Yes!" she said, her eyes flashing, but there was an emotion behind the anger that he couldn't identify.

"Well, you have a funny way of showing it!"

"God, don't you think I know that?" Julia shouted. She balled her hands into fists and forced herself to breathe out. "Please, Alonzo, I can't do this—" She started past him, but he shifted into her way.

"Yes, you can!" he said, holding up his hands to show he wasn't going to grab her. "Just...say what you're thinking."

She looked up at him. "No. I need to calm down. I say things when I'm angry, and I…" She took a deep breath. "I don't like myself when I get like this. Just let me go. Please."

"Hey, you can yell at me all you want," Alonzo said, smiling. "That's why I'm doing this. We yell, we get it out of our systems, and then we get past it. Don't worry—I can take it. It won't bother me. "

"It would bother me!" Julia exploded. "Don't you understand?"

"Explain it to me," Alonzo said, holding out his hands pleadingly.

"Genetically-enhanced memory," Julia said, pointing at her head savagely, "remember? I can't just forgive and forget! I'm sure you've replayed conversations in your head, haven't you? Wishing you'd said something you didn't, wishing you could take back something you did say?"

"You don't have to—"

"But you can't do it like I do!" Julia shook her head bitterly. "When I remember a conversation, I don't just replay every word, I replay what it felt like to hear every word, to say it, and I can replay it over and over, in slow motion, without missing a single instant! Every time I think about an argument, it's like having it all over again, and it hurts!" She took a ragged breath.

Alonzo's eyes went wide. "Oh," he said. "Damn. Julia, I—"

"I have done nothing for the last week but relive that night, knowing I was completely wrong about you, wrong to have ever doubted you!" Julia said. "And every time I look at you, I hear you telling me you weren't the spy, and I didn't say I believed you. I see the look on your face when you said you love me, and I didn't say it back!" She shook her head. "You want to know why I avoid you? Because you're a constant reminder of how toxic I am!"

"But—"

"Just let me go, before I say something else I'll hate myself for," Julia said, and she flung herself out of the tent, leaving Alonzo kicking himself in her wake.

* * *

Danziger came into Dome Two and headed for the storage room where they were keeping Hardy. Rob looked up from where he was setting up his bunk a few meters away.

"He said anything?" Danziger said.

"Not a word," Rob said.

Danziger sighed. He punched in the unlock code on the door panel, and went in. The storeroom wasn't big, just enough to hold a cot and a chair, and Hardy was lying on the cot. He glanced up when Danziger came in, then went back to staring at the ceiling.

Danziger sat down in the chair, and realized he had no idea how to start.

"It's not me," Hardy said. He turned to look at Danziger, and his expression was unreadable. "I'm not the spy."

Danziger laughed humorlessly. "That's what they all say."

Hardy looked at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so. But I kinda had to say it." He ran one hand through his thinning hair. "I really blew this one, John."

Danziger frowned, wondering if he was actually confessing. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I couldn't have set myself up better for this," he said, waving his hand at the storeroom around him. "First, going after Julia the way I did, and then going off on my own after the supply pod. Christ, I should have just stood in the middle of camp and sworn an oath of loyalty to the Council. It would've been faster."

Danziger nodded. "I guess so," he said. "Which is one of the reasons Julia doesn't think it's you."

Hardy looked at him sharply. "What?"

Danziger smiled thinly. "You heard me. She was pretty stubborn about it, too."

Hardy closed his eyes and sighed. "My dad was right. I'm as thick-skulled as they come."

"What was your first clue?" Danziger said dryly. He held up his hands placatingly as Hardy glared at him. "Listen, I get it. You were scared, and you didn't know Julia as well as the rest of us. If you'd seen her after the crash with O'Neill, and especially when she went after Morgan…" He shook his head. "Man, nobody fakes that kind of mad. I really think if Mel hadn't knocked her out, she'd have tried to kill him."

Hardy looked chagrined. "Bill tried to tell me that, but…" He trailed off.

"But you weren't listening to anybody," Danziger said pointedly.

"Yeah," Hardy said, drawing the word out painfully. "And now I know how it feels." He looked at Danziger. "So what are they going to do to me?"

"Nothin'," Danziger said. "At least not yet. Julia convinced Devon that it was better to keep you locked up. She figures if we keep you from having a chance to contact anybody, then if something happens, it could clear you."

Hardy looked hopeful for a moment, then shook his head. "It won't work—I could have a transmitter stashed someplace."

"Yeah," Danziger said. "Mel already thought of that. She hasn't tracked any outgoing signals since Julia's last stint in VR. So the only way you could have contacted them—"

"—is in person," Hardy said, and rolled his eyes. "Wonderful. So if we get attacked any time soon I'm screwed."

* * *

"Wow," Melanie said, sitting with Alonzo in Dome One. "And here I thought having a memory that good would be great."

"Yeah," Alonzo said glumly. "Not so much. I really tried to explain to her that I don't blame her, that it's okay, but she just won't listen."

"That's because it's not about how you feel about it," Melanie said. "Julia is the most relentlessly self-critical person I've ever met. She has these unbelievably high standards for herself that she'll never, ever meet, but that doesn't stop her from beating herself up for failing."

"And there's no way in hell I can fix this," Alonzo said. "Just being around me makes her miserable, and it isn't even anything I did."

"Hold up there, mister," Melanie said, giving him a serious look. "It took the both of you to create this mess."

Alonzo looked chagrined. "I know, I know," he said. "But I told her I was sorry! What else am I supposed to do?"

"How about being patient?" Melanie said.

"Christ, Mel, how long am I supposed to wait!?" Alonzo said, and several of the others around the dome looked up.

Melanie smiled awkwardly at Inez, and then looked back at Alonzo. "Dang," she said under her breath, "and I thought living in camp was like living under a microscope. Thank god I'm going to be over in the other dome with Rob."

"You are?" Alonzo said. "So Julia's going to be all by herself? Oh, that's just great."

"You know that's how she wants it," Melanie said. "I drove her crazy most of the time, even when I was trying not to bother her. Heck, she deserves some kind of prize for putting up with me this long…" She trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"What?" Alonzo said.

Melanie seemed to come to some sort of decision. "I have an idea," she said. She looked at him. "Don't you give up on her, okay? Between us, we'll get her over this, I promise. It may take a while, but isn't she worth the wait?"

* * *

"Devon, have you seen Yale?" Julia asked over the gear.

Devon sighed. "He's over on the other side of Dome Two, helping Rick set up some defensive positions." She hesitated for a moment, then went on. "Would you talk to him? I think he's still scared he might do something to hurt us."

"Of course," Julia said. "I'll do what I can." She closed the channel and started over to Dome Two. She shivered in the cold wind. She'd walked around their new site for almost an hour after she left Alonzo, and all she had to show for it was a newfound appreciation for heat.

She wasn't sure what had prompted her to ask after Yale, but as she approached where he was shoveling dirt into a raised pile, she knew it was because she needed his calm, steadying presence.

"Yale," she said, coming up to him, and he turned to look at her, and then frowned.

"What is wrong, Dr. Heller?" he asked.

Julia smiled, a little embarrassed. "Is it that obvious?"

He smiled kindly. "A bit," he said.

She sighed. "I envy you," she said after a long moment.

Yale looked surprised. "Why?"

"Don't misunderstand me," she said, "but…there are times when I wish I could just forget everything from my past."

His face clouded. "Do not wish for that, Julia."

"Don't you ever get tired of it, though? I mean, with your recording capabilities, you can remember everything. Isn't it sometimes…painful?"

Yale set down his shovel and looked at her carefully. "At times, yes. But you must understand, for me, remembering is a choice. I must access my memories deliberately." He frowned. "At least, that was the case until recently. The memories from…from Andre Biko are not memories I would choose to relive."

"The joys of organic memory," Julia said bitterly. "You don't always get to choose what you remember."

Yale studied her face. "May I offer you some advice?" he said.

"Actually, I came here to do that for you," Julia said, smiling crookedly. "Devon's worried that you're scared you'll hurt Uly."

"I am," he said. "But I am trying to trust myself. As should you."

"Easier said than done," she said.

"Indeed." He smiled. "When you and Alonzo came to me and told me of my past, you said something that was helpful to me," he said. "You said that my memories might be painful, but they were memories of something I should be proud of."

Julia frowned, shaking her head. "I'm not proud of my memories," she said tersely.

Yale smiled sadly. "Neither am I," he said. "We are our own worst enemies, you and I. We cannot see what others may see in us. We only see the worst in ourselves." He stepped closer and put his hand on Julia's shoulder. "Whatever you may think of what you have done, you must remember this: you helped me. And I am grateful to you for that. You believe that I was…I am a good person." He looked intently at her. "I believe the same of you. Do not punish yourself for the things you fail to do. Endeavor to succeed in the future. That is all anyone can ask of you."

* * *

"Arturo," Phoebe said, handing him a bowl of synthofu and sitting next to him at the table in Dome One. "I hear you're going out scouting with Inez tomorrow."

Artie nodded. "Julia says we really need some alternate sources of protein."

"Protein? Hell, I'd take any kind of food at this point. We've already gone through most of the hydroponics we grew on the road, and the new crop Helen's starting is going to take a while." She scooped up a glob of synthofu with her spoon and stared glumly at it. "I'm getting to the point where I'd consider trying some of those poisonous berries we found. At least then I wouldn't have to eat this stuff any more."

Artie laughed. "Don't worry," he said. "I have a good feeling about this. We'll find something."

"Well, you be careful out there," Phoebe said seriously. "I don't like the idea of you being out there with Terriers and CSF running around."

"Oh, heck, we'll be fine," Artie said.

"You'd better be," Phoebe said. "I have big plans for you, mister."

Artie gave her a questioning look. "Plans?" he said, and his voice cracked.

Phoebe looked embarrassed, and glanced around to be sure no one else was listening. "So you heard about Rob and Melanie, right?"

Artie looked confused. "Um, yeah," he said. "I know I'm slow, but that's really old news."

Phoebe shook her head impatiently. "Not that, I mean about them moving into Dome Two. Together."

Artie's eyebrows levitated towards his long-since receded hairline.

"So…" Phoebe said slowly, and then she actually batted her eyelashes at him.

He swallowed convulsively.

"Just think about it," Phoebe said. "Maybe it'll give you some extra incentive to come home safe."

* * *

"Knock, knock," Melanie said from the passage outside the med tent. "Anybody home?"

Julia groaned inwardly. She'd managed to make it back to the med tent without running into anyone. She wanted to think through what Yale had said, and she knew she must have looked upset to say the least. But now here was Melanie, probably to talk to her about Alonzo. _I don't deserve her_, Julia thought. _I don't know why she tries so hard._

She sat up from where she was lying on her bunk as Melanie pushed aside the tent flap and came in, holding what looked like a crumpled piece of tarp. "Before you say anything," she said, "I'm not here to read you the riot act, or to make you feel guilty, or get you to do something you don't want to do."

"Why are you here, then?" Julia said tiredly.

"To give you this," Melanie said, handing her the wad of tarp, which turned out to be wrapping something oddly-shaped.

Julia blinked. "What's this?"

"Well, open it and find out," Melanie said, and she looked nervous.

Julia frowned, but she unwrapped the package. In it was a little wooden figure with four legs and two arms. It wasn't quite anatomically correct—there was a big grin on the heart-shaped face with big eyes and two misshapen horns—but it was close.

"Danziger made it for me," Melanie said. "So I could give it to you. I was going to give it to you on your birthday—yes, I checked with Tosh to find out when it was. Actually, she was pretty cute about it. She got all excited about raising morale with birthday celebrations. So when she throws you a surprise party next week, try to act surprised, okay?"

Julia studied the figurine, touched, then looked up. "Why did you decide to give it to me now?"

"Well, originally it was to commemorate what you did for Jupiter, but it took Danziger a while to finish it. And there's all you did for Yale, too. But—" She stopped for a moment, then apparently reached some sort of decision. "Here's the thing. Alonzo told me a little about what you said, and I thought maybe this guy could help."

Julia frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Jupiter Junior doesn't care what you did or didn't say," Melanie said. "And neither does Alonzo. Neither do I." She smiled. "So next time you start to replay one of those painful conversations, just grab him and think happy thoughts."

Julia looked back down at the figure, running her finger along the neck.

"He's also supposed to remind you that you do a lot of good stuff, more than enough to balance out any bad stuff, and that you don't give yourself nearly enough credit for that," Melanie said. She frowned as Julia just stared at the figurine. "I know it isn't much, but my resources are kind of—"

Julia's eyes shot up to meet hers, and there were tears in them. "Melanie," she managed to get out.

"Oh, jeez, don't cry!" Melanie said, dismayed. "I didn't mean to make you—"

Julia was laughing through tears. "You were the one who said crying was good for me," she said, sniffing. "And it's not just you. Yale said almost the same thing to me earlier, and…" She stopped, trying to put her feelings into words. "I don't know, hearing it from you, too, I just…it's a little overwhelming."

"We're not the only ones who think that way," Melanie said. "Alonzo does, too."

Julia's face fell. "I've been awful to him, Melanie."

"So you push him away? Julia, that's about the only thing you could do that would make this worse—not just for him, but for you, too. The first step in getting out of a hole is to stop digging." She knelt in front of Julia. "Just talk to him. You don't have to try to make up for anything, you don't have to fix anything."

"You make it sound so easy," Julia said.

"It is easy," Melanie said. "He's so desperate to talk to you, he'll probably carry the whole conversation by himself. Just nod and make affirmative noises now and then, and you'll be fine. Or, better yet, just cut straight to the kissing."

Julia bit her lip.

"Look, I know you don't think you deserve him, and maybe you're right. He is practically a Greek god, who also happens to be a pretty nice guy," Melanie said. "But he seems dead set on you, and since he can't really do better—I am, after all, already taken, and Devon's into Danziger, Helen's into Bill," she started ticking them off on her fingers, "Valerie's into girls, Tosh likes Todd, Phoebe likes Artie, Inez thinks Alonzo's a moron, Tru's only eleven, which is a pretty big age—"

"I get the point," Julia said dryly.

"—so you might as well take one for the team," Melanie finished, fighting back a grin. "He's up on guard duty topside."

Julia sighed. "You're not going to let me get out of this, are you?" she said, the beginnings of a smile tugging at her lips.

Melanie held out her hands. "This is me, Jules. What do you think?"

Which is how Julia found herself climbing up the stairs curving up and around the back of Dome One, hugging her thin jacket close to her as the wind cut through it, chilling her to the bone. She dug her hands deep into her pockets and clutched Jupiter Junior in her right hand as she approached the platform at the top.

Alonzo was standing watch on the far side of the platform, his back to her, mag-pro in hand. Julia tried to make herself climb the last few steps, but was on the verge of turning around when there was an ostentatious cough from someone over on top of Dome Two. Julia looked across to see Danziger grinning at Alonzo and gesturing with his thumb towards her.

Alonzo turned, and looked surprised and a little scared. "Hi," he said, and then looked embarrassed.

"Hi," Julia said, her heart pounding.

"No romantic synthofu this time, I hope," he said, smiling. "I already ate. And I don't think I could choke down any more."

"No," Julia said. "Just me this time." She took another step forward, but it felt like she was walking in double gravity.

"Did you like Melanie's present?" he said.

"Very much," she said, trying hard not to tear up again. "She's…very thoughtful."

Alonzo nodded, then laughed. "Are you feeling as weird as I am?"

"Absolutely," Julia said, looking almost green. She took a breath and made herself close the distance between them. "Alonzo…I owe you an—"

"Stop right there," Alonzo interrupted. He waited till she looked up at him. "You owe me nothing," he said emphatically. "We both said and did some stupid things, so let's just call it even and start fresh, okay?"

"I'm sorry," she said before he could stop her. "I really am. For everything I said—before, today, everything."

"You are almost as stubborn as Melanie," Alonzo said, shaking his head.

"But especially for…for what I didn't…" she began, and felt her throat close. She swallowed, shaking her head. "God, why is this so hard?" she whispered.

"Let me help," Alonzo said. "I told you I love you. Which is a first for me, incidentally, so I'm feeling a little out of my element." He smiled reassuringly. "I'm kind of liking the new element, though." He cleared his throat. "So…I'm going to ask you something, and if you want to say yes, you can. Or nod. Or…blink really hard. But don't feel like you have to—I mean, like I said, you don't owe me—"

"Alonzo," Julia whispered, and then held her breath.

"Do you feel the same way about me?" he said quietly.

Everything went into slow motion for Julia, but she finally managed to make herself nod again, and the moment she did, she let out the breath she'd been holding.

Alonzo sighed in relief almost simultaneously. "Okay," he said, and smiled. "That's…good…no, that's great! It's fantastic!" And then he grabbed her by both arms and pulled her into a kiss.

"Hey, get a room, you two!" Danziger yelled.

Julia jolted back, blushing furiously, and Alonzo turned and shot Danziger a deadly glare. "Aren't you supposed to be watching for Terriers?" he yelled.

"Yeah," Danziger said. "So are you! Sorry, man—I'm as romantic as the next guy, but…" He trailed off meaningfully.

"He's right," Julia said. "I'm distracting you."

"I like distractions," Alonzo said sullenly.

"I should go," Julia said.

"Okay, but only on one condition," Alonzo said.

"What?" she said breathlessly.

"We finish this tomorrow night," he said. "Your tent, okay?"

Julia swallowed hard, but she was already nodding, and Alonzo leaned in and gave her another quick kiss, then let her go.

She turned to go back to the stairs, but stopped and looked back at him. "The quote you said to Yale," she asked. "_E quindi uscimmo, a riveder le stelle_…"

He smiled. "The last line of The Inferno," he said. "'And so they came forth, and once more beheld the stars.'"

Julia looked up, and the clouds had broken for an instant, and there was a vast expanse of stars above them, with a wealth of new constellations just waiting to be named.


	9. Chapter 9

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 9

* * *

_A/N: Yes, a very short chapter. You'll know why when you get to the end of it. Sorry. Now aren't you glad I gave you two chapters yesterday? Please read responsibly._

* * *

Julia woke up smiling early the next morning.

She shook her head, staring up at the tent above her. The Council was still out there, and so were the hostile Terriers. Winter was almost upon them, and they still didn't have reliable sources of protein other than the monotony of synthofu.

It was ridiculous for her to feel so happy. Nothing had changed.

_The situation with Alonzo has certainly changed_, she thought wryly. She felt a flutter of fear in her middle. _Stop it_, she told herself harshly. _There's nothing to be afraid of. Nothing._ But the butterflies kept fluttering.

And for the first time since the crash, she really wanted to talk to Melanie. But Melanie was in Dome Two with Rob. _It figures_, she thought. _All this time, I've wanted nothing more than to be by myself, and when I finally do want the company, I can't have it._

* * *

"How are you feeling this morning?" Danziger asked Tru as she sat up in their new home. The thin walls dividing up the various living quarters were hardly enough to give a sense of privacy, but even so, Danziger was glad to be sticking around in one place for a change.

"Better," Tru said. "It doesn't hurt so much to breathe anymore."

"Good," he said. "You think you're up to helping me out with the rails today? Julia said she thought you'd be fine getting up and around for a little while, as long as you don't do anything strenuous."

"I guess so," she said, though there was a hint of reluctance in her voice.

"What, you got something better to do?" Danziger said, looking at her curiously.

Tru looked uncomfortable. "Well…" she said, drawing out the word.

"Spit it out, Tru," Danziger said warily.

"See, Devon asked Melanie to show Bess how to do the comm stuff, since it's so hard to get signal here, and she wanted to be sure that we had somebody who could do it if Melanie had to do something else, and—"

"The short version, Tru," Danziger said, though he knew where this was headed. Whatever Devon had said to Tru in the Transrover, it had worked. For Tru, Devon practically walked on water, and Devon seemed to be making a concerted effort to keep it that way. Which only annoyed him more.

"Devon said I could watch," Tru said. "She said that way we'd have a couple of people who could do it. And you said I'm good with stuff like that, and it would keep me out of trouble, plus Bess would be there, and I wouldn't be doing anything strenuous, like Julia said—"

Danziger held up his hands. "Okay, okay," he said. "You can go."

Tru looked at him searchingly. "Are you mad at me?"

Danziger sighed. "No, kiddo, I'm not mad at you," he said, but even as he said it, he knew he hadn't kept the emphasis off the last word like he'd meant to.

Tru sighed. "Don't tell me," she said. "You're still mad at Devon for whatever she said to you."

"Of course not," Danziger said stiffly.

"Oh, that's just great," Tru said. "You're the one who's always telling me I need to be more mature."

"I'm not—"

Tru put up her hand to stop him. "I've done a lot worse to you, haven't I?" she asked. "I mean, whatever she said, how could it be worse than…than when I said I'd be better off with Station Services than with you?"

Danziger winced.

"And I never even said I was sorry for that," Tru said insistently. "But you got over it anyway."

"Tru—"

"She did say she was sorry, right?" Tru said.

Danziger rolled his eyes. "Yes, she did," he admitted.

"She did to me, too. Which was weird, because I didn't think she had anything to be sorry for." She shook her head, bemused. "Anyway, I think you need to just suck it up and get over it. Like you say, life's too short to stay mad, right?" She pulled on her boots and laced them up, stood up and started to leave, but then stopped and turned to look at him. "I am, y'know."

"You are what?" Danziger said.

"Sorry I said it," Tru said seriously. "This is way better than Station Services. And so are you."

Danziger watched her trot off towards where Melanie had set up the comm system and shook his head. _Man, it was almost worth having Devon tee off on me just so I could hear that_, he thought.

* * *

"Hey, Artie!" Inez called. She glanced back over her shoulder, and he'd turned to look at her. She waved him over, and then turned and ran back to the plant she'd just seen.

She pulled out her scanner and ran it over the broad-leafed plant and held her breath. This was the third plant they'd checked out since they left the camp two hours earlier, and both the previous ones had turned out to be busts. This one didn't look any more promising. The leaves were turning brown, so even if it was edible, it was likely past its growing season, but as she scanned it, her heart leaped.

"I think we've got something!" she said as Artie got closer.

"What is it?"

She grabbed the stems of the leaves as close to the ground as she could and pulled carefully. There was resistance, so much that she hesitated to pull harder. She grabbed her clasp knife out of her pocket and began digging around the base of the stems. There were thick tubers under the dirt, and as she cleared away the dirt, she was delighted to see how substantial the tubers were.

"Would'ja look at that!" Artie said. "They look a little like potatoes!"

"Close enough—they read as edible, and the scanner's trying to call them legumes," she said, reading the scanner.

"You mean like beans?" Artie said skeptically.

"Sort of. I think it's saying that because it looks like they have at least a little protein in them," Inez said, scrabbling at the dirt with her hands as she cleared the base of the tubers. She dug her fingers into the dirt beneath them, wincing at the cold, and finally got a good enough hold that she was able to extract the tubers. They came out all at once, and she nearly fell backwards into the stream.

"Do you see any more around?" Inez said, looking at the cluster of tubers in her hands. The smallest was the size of her fist, and though they looked a little wrinkly, it looked like there would be a good amount of edible matter from each of the tubers.

Artie was looking along the stream's edge. "There's another one down a ways," he said.

Inez smiled at Artie, or at least what he thought was a smile. _On anybody else it'd look like gas_, he thought, but for Inez, it was practically beaming. "Julia will be so happy!" she said. "Finally, we found food!"

"I hope they taste good," Artie said skeptically.

"Heck, even if they taste nasty, it'd be a nice change from synthofu," Inez said seriously.

* * *

"Yale," Devon said, coming up to where he was digging again, piling up dirt along the rock face opposite Dome Two. "How are you? Did you sleep?"

"A bit," he said.

Devon looked troubled. "Uly was asking about you," she said. "I think he's bored. He even said he'd study history if you wanted."

Yale smiled at that. "Then he is truly worried about me," he said wryly.

Devon smiled in relief. "It's good to hear you joking," she said. "Whatever Julia said to you must have helped."

He nodded. "I am trying, Devon," he said after a moment. "But I am still very concerned. I do not know what my programming might contain, and until I do, I cannot be certain that I am not a danger to you, or to others in the group."

"I talked to Valerie earlier," Devon said. "The coffee helped, but she's out again, so it could take a little longer." She smiled. "But she did say she'd found a few things that she wanted to examine more. The…um…bot she said she had going was almost done going through the code, and she was going to send it through again looking for some other stuff while she went through what it had already flagged."

Yale nodded. "I suppose that is progress."

"Absolutely," Devon said. "She told me to tell you that she's working as fast as she can, but she wants to be thorough. She said it would be better to find everything first so she only has to upload the fixes once. Something about it taking a while to compile, and that you'd be out of commission while it did."

"I see," Yale said. "That is logical." He sighed. "In the meantime, I will have to remain patient."

"This is you being patient?" Devon said, gesturing at the long line of piled-up dirt.

Yale smiled thinly. "I find the physical exertion helpful in dealing with my…fears," he said. "And as long as I am out here, I worry less about what I might do. Please understand, Devon, I prefer to keep my distance from everyone for now."

Devon nodded reluctantly. "I'll…keep you posted on what Valerie finds, okay?"

"Thank you," he said. He hesitated for a moment. "Have you seen Julia this morning?" he asked.

"Not yet," Devon said. "Why?"

"It is not my place to say," he said. "But if you do speak to her, I…I believe it would be helpful to her to hear that you value her."

Devon blinked, surprised. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, looking uncomfortable. "She is struggling with…recent events," he said.

"Oh," Devon said, realizing what he must be talking about. "I'll…try," she said, wondering how on earth she could work that into normal conversation.

"Do try to be subtle about it, Devon," Yale said.

Devon smiled at him dryly. "Subtle," she said. "Yeah, that's right up my alley."

Yale sighed. "I knew I should not have said anything," he said, shaking his head.

"Thanks a lot," Devon said, and almost cheered when he smiled again. _Progress_, she thought hopefully.

* * *

"Hello, Valerie," Morgan said, coming up to where she was seated at one of the mess tables in Dome One, studying her tablet. He seemed to be trying for nonchalance, but was failing dismally. "What are you doing?"

She looked up at him, trying to figure out what on earth he was up to. "Programming," she said. "Which requires some concentration, so…"

Morgan looked uncomfortable. "Look," he said, dropping the act, "I overheard you talking to Devon."

"Of course you did," Valerie said. "I swear, we can't possibly get to New Pacifica fast enough," she muttered to herself.

"I just thought you should know something," he said. "About the Yale project."

"What?" Valerie said, looking up at him, wishing she could just make him disappear.

"I don' t know much about programming—"

"What a shock," Valerie said under her breath.

"—but I do know that the Yales were all given a failsafe code," Morgan finished, ignoring her comment.

"Failsafe?" she said, glancing back down at her tablet. She still had over thirty segments of code the bot had flagged that she hadn't gone through yet.

"Yeah," Morgan said. "It varied—they kept trying different approaches, but most of them were set to trigger a set of commands if certain things happened—like if the Yale started to do something they didn't want them to do, they'd shut them down, or make them return to the research facility…"

"Your point, Morgan?" Valerie said. "I mean, I already found one set of commands like that, and—"

"That's just it. One of the other failsafes was about the coding," Morgan interrupted. "So if anybody made a change to the code, they were set to do things."

"Things?" Valerie said impatiently. "Come on, Morgan, could you vague that up for me? You're being just a little too clear."

"I don't know," Morgan said, his voice rising. "Like I said, they did different stuff throughout the program. And I never saw this Yale, which means he had to have been pretty late in the program, so who knows what they put in there." He held up his hands. "Look, that's all I know. I just thought you should be aware of it before you go monkeying around with his code."

Valerie sighed. "Okay," she said placatingly. "Thanks—that's actually good to know." Morgan nodded and walked away.

_Unfortunately_, Valerie thought glumly, _that means one more thing I have to look for_.

* * *

"Hold up, Inez, I think I saw another one," Artie said, turning to look back over his shoulder at the riverbank.

"Where?" Inez said, slowing and turning to look. "Should I stop?"

"Just back—oh, cr—!" Artie's voice cut off as he turned back in time to see the right front wheel starting to go off the edge of the riverbank.

Inez whipped the wheel back, slamming on the brake, but it was too late. The rail slid just far enough to tip over the edge of the bank. Artie yelped as the rail began to roll.

The next thing Inez knew, she had a faceful of ice-cold mud.

"Ow," Artie said from somewhere behind her as she came up sputtering.

Inez pushed herself up out of the muddy river, wiping at her face with one hand, and turned to look at him. "Are you okay?"

Artie was lying at the base of the riverbank, halfway out of the rail, which was now lying on its rollbar. He was holding one knee and wincing. "I don't think so," he said. "I wrenched the hell out of my knee."

Inez swore. "I'm sorry, Artie. I can't believe I did that."

Artie waved one hand at her. "Easy mistake to make," he said. "I don't think the knee is that bad. Julia can fix it."

"Maybe, but I don't know if she'll be able to fix what Danziger does to me once he sees what I did to his rail," Inez said, crawling over to Artie and trying not to look at the rail.

Artie snorted. "You have a point. I'm glad you were the one driving." He looked at the rail. "But it doesn't really look too bad. The hard part's gonna be getting it out of the river."

"Here," Inez said, taking hold of his arm. "Let's get us out of the water before we freeze to death." She helped him out of the rail, and between them they were able to clamber up onto the riverbank.

"Melanie?" Inez said, slapping her gear as she sat next to Artie. "Are you there?"

"-ez?" Melanie said through a hail of static. "You…weird. What's wrong?"

Inez sighed. "I just crashed the rail," she said grimly.

"Are you…?" Melanie's voice kept cutting out. "How…rtie?"

"I'm fine. Artie hurt his knee. And I don't think the rail is going anywhere without some help," Inez said. "It's kinda stuck."

"Stuck?" Melanie said. "…mind…got…ordinates. Help..."

"Hurry," Inez said. "It's cold out here, and we got wet."

"Eeee," Melanie said, and Inez could hear the sympathy even through the static. "…be there as soon…can. You check in..."

"We'll call in every fifteen minutes," Inez said.

"Hey, Mel, wait!" Artie said. "Tell everyone we found food! Maybe that'll keep Danziger from biting our heads off when he gets here," he added for Inez's benefit.

"I doubt it," Melanie said, her voice suddenly clear for a moment, and Artie winced.

Inez winced for a completely different reason. "Oh, no…the tubers!" She scrambled to her feet and looked down at the river, then let out a sigh of relief. The bag of tubers had gotten wedged under the passenger seat. She scrambled down the bank and retrieved it, then climbed awkwardly back up to join Artie.

Artie chuckled. "Well, at least that much went right," he said. "It could be a lot worse."

"Don't," Inez said, holding up a hand to stop him. "It'll get worse. It always does when you say stuff like that."

* * *

"How far out are they?" Devon asked Melanie.

"Only about seven k on a direct line," Melanie said. "But they crossed back over the river a little north of here and then swung around that line of hills, so it'll be more like ten-ish before you get to them."

Devon nodded. "Okay, Danziger, let's go get 'em," she said.

Melanie turned as Julia came up with the med kit. "Thanks," she said, reaching to take it.

Julia shook her head. "I'm going," she said. She smiled and leaned close. "If I have to stick around here with nothing to do but think, I'll talk myself out of it."

"Out of what?" Melanie said breathlessly.

"You were right, about everything," Julia said. "And…well…tonight…" She trailed off significantly, unsuccessfully trying not to smile.

Melanie's eyes went wide. "You're kidding! Seriously?" She started to fling her arms around Julia, but Julia backed away, looking past Melanie to where Devon and Danziger were standing by the rail.

"Shh," Julia whispered. "It'll get around soon enough, but—"

"Sorry," Melanie said standing back, though it seemed to take some effort. "But as soon as you get back, I want details. We might as well put that perfect memory of yours to good use."

Julia looked embarrassed, but nodded.

Melanie sighed loudly. "I never get to do the cool stuff," she said for Devon and Danziger to hear. "How is Rob supposed to dramatically come to my rescue if I never get into trouble?"

"Being rescued isn't nearly as much fun as you might think," Julia said, shaking her head as she clambered into the ATV. "Are you ready?" she called back to Devon.

Devon looked over at Danziger, and he nodded. "Tell Inez we'll be there in forty-five minutes, tops," he said to Melanie, climbing into the rail. He pulled out after Julia.

"What was that all about?" Devon asked. "And why is Julia in such a good mood today?" Devon said.

"You have no idea," Danziger said, smiling enigmatically.

"What?" Devon said, looking excitedly at him. "What did I miss?"

Danziger shook his head. "You'll have to ask her…or Alonzo," he said. "Gossip is Melanie's gig, not mine."

"Oh, don't make me suffer!" Devon said. "You know Julia won't say anything, so I'll have to wait till we get back!"

"Suffering is good for the soul," Danziger said. "At least, that's what my mother always told me."

"She only said that to justify punishing you," Devon said. "Which apparently runs in the family," she added under her breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danziger said, glancing over at her and frowning.

Devon sighed and decided to bite the bullet. "It means, I apologized, I meant it, and I've done what I can to make up for it. So when are you going to stop punishing me?"

Danziger groaned. "Not you, too!"

Devon blinked. "Huh?"

He shook his head. "Tru just about took my head off this morning," he said. "See if I ever let her ride in the Transrover with you again."

"So?" Devon said after waiting several seconds for him to continue.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm working on it, okay?"

Devon crossed her arms. "Work faster," she muttered, and she sounded so much like Tru at that moment, Danziger had to bite his tongue not to smile.

* * *

"Morgan, I swear, you're just fine," Melanie said again. "It's just a blister." She started putting away the diaglove, hoping he'd take the hint. She still hadn't had a chance to track down Alonzo to get the story from him, and it was driving her crazy.

First, Bess had insisted they do the comm training, and Melanie couldn't come up with a good excuse to delay it. So she'd blown through the basics with her as fast as she could, but then Morgan showed up with a blister on the base of his thumb the size of a pea. _And it's about time you finally did enough work to get one_, Melanie thought.

"What do I do?" Morgan said, waving his hand like he was hoping to shake it off.

"You wear gloves the next time you work with a shovel," Melanie said. "Now I have to go."

Bess looked at her. "You've been itching to get out of here all morning," she said perceptively. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Melanie said, smiling. "I just need to go talk to…someone."

She ran for the door to the dome before Bess could ask her any more questions, darted through it and looked frantically around for Alonzo.

"Good lord, honey! Where's the fire?" Phoebe said, shouldering a mag-pro as she started for the stairs to the lookout on top of the dome.

"Where's Alonzo?" Melanie asked.

"I think I saw him talking to Rob over by Dome Two," Phoebe said.

Melanie turned to go.

"Hold on there!" Phoebe said, grabbing her arm. "Is something wrong?"

Melanie shook her head, but couldn't keep the grin off her face. Phoebe raised her eyebrows. "Now what could be giving you that shit-eating grin, hmmm?"

"Not now, Phoebe!" Melanie said. "Later, I promise!"

"Oh, I think I already figured it out," Phoebe said, matching her smile. "You tell Alonzo I'm happy for him."

Melanie nodded and ran for Dome Two. Halfway there, Tru called to her. "You were supposed to tell me when you were training Bess," she said accusingly, a little out of breath after trotting up. "She just told me you already did it."

"I'm sorry," Melanie said, kicking herself. "Tell you what, give me about…half an hour, and I'll go through it with you personally, okay?"

Tru made a show of checking the chronometer on her gear. "Okay, half an hour," she said warningly, and walked off towards the river, where Uly was poking at something with a long stick.

Melanie sighed in relief and started again for Dome Two. She found Alonzo on the far side, helping Rob finish up one of the berms they'd been constructing. "Sorry, Rob, but I need Alonzo."

"What for?" Alonzo said, looking over at her and setting down his shovel.

"What for?" Melanie said, grabbing his arm and dragging him away. "Are you kidding me? After everything I've done for you, I have to hunt you down to get the details about what happened with Julia?"

"Oh," Alonzo said, smiling sheepishly. "That. I just assumed she'd already told you."

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Okay, first, this is Julia we're talking about. And second, I don't live with her anymore, remember? So spill it!"

* * *

Julia steered the ATV carefully across the river, wincing as the cold water splashed her. _Artie and Inez must be freezing_, she thought. But by Melanie's estimate, they should be no more than ten or fifteen minutes away, and—

She broke off the thought as she felt a momentary sensation of anger and…_what? Smugness? Arrogance?_ But before she could identify it, it was gone.

"Did you feel that?" Devon said over the gear as Julia pulled up onto the far bank.

"Yes," Julia said nervously. She stopped the ATV and pulled out her monoculars, the wind whipping her hair. She scanned the horizon, but there were no Terriers in sight.

"Mel," Devon said over the gear, "we just got a…a blip from a Terrier."

"A blip?" Melanie said, and she sounded annoyed.

"Julia and I both felt something, and it didn't feel friendly," Devon said.

"Okay," Melanie said uncertainly.

"Just…tell everybody to keep their eyes open," Devon said.

"Will do," Melanie said. "You three do the same. I'm more worried about you being out there on your own."

"Me, too," Devon said. "We're moving as fast as we can." She closed the channel and looked at Julia, who had already climbed back into the ATV. "Are you getting anything else?" she asked.

Julia looked nervous. "I'm a little leery about trying to make contact—I don't know enough about how this works, and I'd hate to bring them down on us by trying too hard to feel them."

Devon hadn't thought of that. She glanced at Danziger, who pointedly powered up his mag-pro.

* * *

"Telling you is gonna have to wait," Alonzo said after Melanie closed the channel with Devon.

Melanie frowned. "We don't know for sure they're coming," she said.

Alonzo shook his head. "Maybe not, but I'd rather be prepared. Have you seen the kids?"

"They were over by the river," Melanie said.

"Uly," Alonzo said after opening a channel. "You there?"

"Yes," Uly said, and Alonzo breathed a sigh of relief. _At least he learned that much from his trip down the river_, he thought.

"Where are you? Is Tru with you?"

"We're both by the river," Tru said. "What's going on? Is my dad okay?"

"He's fine. We might have Terriers nearby. I want you and Uly back up here right now," Alonzo said. He closed the channel and turned to Melanie. "You head back to the med tent and make sure you're ready for anything. And spread the word to everyone. I'll make sure the kids are safe."

Melanie nodded and started for the med tent, wondering if Alonzo was picking something up from the Terriers, and that's why he was so edgy.

After she passed along Devon's warning to the rest of the camp, Melanie frowned and picked up her tablet. _Maybe there's another way to go at this_, she thought. _If Julia's right, and the Terriers are somehow picking up our electromagnetic signals, then they have to be broadcasting, too. The signals have to be weak, but maybe if I—_

She cut off the thought sharply as she saw the flashing icon at the top of her tablet. _Oh, no_, she thought, her heart pounding, and read the time stamp. _Two hours ago. Somebody was broadcasting two hours ago, and now the Terriers are close. That's too much of a coincidence._ She opened the recording, and swallowed hard as she realized what she was looking at.

"Damn it," she swore softly. She'd been so relieved the spy had turned out to be Hardy, because he was just about the only person in camp that nobody really liked. _But that would be too easy_, she thought grimly. _So of __course__ it isn't him._ She sighed. _This is going to kill—_

"Terriers!" Rob's voice came over the gear.

"Everybody take cover!" Alonzo's voice cut in. "If you don't have a weapon, get into Dome One, right now! Tru!"

"Holy—PAUL! Behind—!" someone else yelled, then someone else screamed, there was a weird hollow-sounding thud, and then there was a hail of mag-pro shots being fired.

"Kill them!" Melanie heard through the tent walls, and it took her a moment to recognize the murderous yell as Rick's voice.

_Oh, god_, she thought, and started for the tent flap.

"Melanie!" Rob said breathlessly, "get ready! I'm coming with Phoebe. She has an arrow in her leg!"

"Okay," Melanie said, hesitating. "What about Paul?"

"Not…now," Rob said sharply, his breaths coming in short gasps.

Alonzo came crashing into the tent carrying Tru, and Uly ran in right behind him. "Into the dome!" he said, shoving Uly ahead of him. "Now! Find someplace to hide, and stay there!" He turned to Melanie. "Check her out—she tripped and fell," he said, setting Tru down. She was breathing hard, looking scared. Alonzo turned to go.

"What's going on out there?" Melanie said, and when he turned to look at her, she suddenly didn't want to know. "Never mind," she said before he could answer. "Rob's coming with Phoebe. There isn't time."

"Call Julia," Alonzo said. "Tell them to stay clear. There's no way they'll get through if they try to come back now."

Melanie nodded. "Be careful," she said. He smiled thinly and ducked out of the tent. Tru had sat down on Julia's cot, her breathing steadying slightly, but her eyes were still wide. Melanie ran a quick scan on her and was relieved to see there was nothing wrong. "Still a little hard to breathe, is it?" she asked, and Tru nodded. "That'll get better. You just hang out here till you catch your breath, then go on in and find Uly." She opened a channel. "Julia, come in."

"What's wrong?" Julia said immediately.

"We're under attack," Melanie said, and, before she could say anything, added, "Don't ask me for details. I don't know anything except that it's Terriers, and at least one person has been hit. Alonzo said to stay clear—there are too many of them for you to get through."

"But—" Julia began.

"Listen, you need to know something," Melanie said, but stopped as Rob shouldered his way into the tent with Phoebe's arm draped over his shoulder. She had a large arrow sticking out of her leg, and her face was creased with pain as she hopped into the tent. "Damn it—gotta go. I'll tell you when you get back. Stay safe." She closed the channel and glanced at Tru. "Tru, I need that cot. Can you manage?"

"I think so," she said, sounding younger than Melanie had ever heard her before. She got to her feet a little unsteadily, and Rob helped Phoebe over to the cot and laid her down on it.

"That's quite the piercing you got there, Phoebe," Melanie said.

"Well, you know what they say," Phoebe said, her teeth gritted in pain, "go big or go home."

Melanie began scanning her. "How bad is it out there?" she asked.

"Bad," Rob said. "They got up on the rocks behind the camp, or at least one of 'em did. Paul got shot in the back before anybody realized what was happening. He...fell."

Melanie could tell that Rob didn't think there was any chance he'd survived, and she realized all at once what that hollow thud had been.

Tru made a small noise from behind her and Melanie turned to look at her. From the look on her face, it was clear she'd seen it. "Oh, Tru…" she began, then shook her head. _I don't have time to help her right now_, she told herself. "I need you to go on into the dome," she said emphatically, then swallowed hard and turned back to focus on Phoebe. She grabbed a painblock and dosed her. "Okay, Phoebe, I'm gonna have to pull this sucker out. It may hurt a little, but Alonzo didn't even cry when I did it to him, so it probably won't bother you a bit."

Phoebe laughed tightly. "Go ahead," she said, and grabbed the edge of the cot tightly.

"Laser cut," Melanie prompted the diaglove, and used the laser to cut into the leg so she could pull the arrow out without causing more damage. Phoebe winced a little as she did it, but the painblock seemed to be working for the most part. Melanie grabbed hold of the arrow shaft, and before Phoebe could anticipate the pain, she pulled it out.

Phoebe gasped, then let out a long breath. "Damn," she said quietly.

Melanie patted her shoulder. "You did great," she said, and turned to put the arrow on the lab table. As she did, she noticed a weird substance on the arrow just above where it had penetrated Phoebe's leg. She studied it uneasily, but the initial scan hadn't read any toxins. _I'll have Julia check it as soon as she gets back_, she thought, and turned back to close Phoebe's wound.

"Hey, how are you doing, Pheeb?" Valerie said, poking her head into the tent.

"Visiting hours can wait till you get rid of those party crashers, okay?" Phoebe said.

"Don't worry," Valerie said. "They started pulling back right about the time Rob got you in here." She shook her head, looking relieved. "And a good thing, too. There were a lot of them." She frowned, looking back toward the entrance to the dome. "Tru, are you okay?"

Melanie sighed. "She's supposed to be in the dome," she said.

"I don't want to hide," Tru said, her voice sounding more like normal than it had. "Let me help."

Melanie bit her lip. _Doing something useful has to be better than dwelling on what she saw_, she thought. "Any other injuries?" Melanie asked Valerie, finishing up Phoebe's sutures.

Valerie didn't answer for a moment, and when Melanie glanced up at her, she was looking at Tru. Finally, she shook her head. "Not that you can help," she said quietly. "Nick's about ready to go in and kill Hardy, though, so there might—"

Melanie's eyes went wide. "What? No!" she said. "No, you can't let him do that! You have to tell them, it's not—"

"Shit!" someone yelled outside. "Here they come again!"

Valerie swore. "You stay here and keep an eye on them," she said to Rob, backing towards the tent flap. "I have a bad feeling we're going to be needing Melanie again." She ducked out of the tent.

Melanie turned to Rob. "You have to go make sure nobody hurts Hardy," she said to him. "He's not the spy."

"How do you know?" Rob said.

"Because there was a transmission a few hours ago," she said frantically. "And there's no way it came from him. Rob, you have to go, now!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Rob said resolutely. "Nobody's going to go after him. They have their hands full. Besides, you could just call on gear."

"Oh," Melanie said, blinking. "Duh."

Rob smiled weakly at her. "Don't worry about it. We're all a little stressed out. So if it isn't Hardy, then who—?"

"ROB!" Valerie's voice came from outside the tent, sounding terrified. "Get into the dome, now! There's a—!"

Rob whirled to face the tent flap, raising his mag-pro, then Tru screamed, and the med tent exploded into chaos.

* * *

"Julia, punch it!" Danziger called to her, and he pulled out. "We gotta go get Artie and Inez, right now!"

Julia nodded and pulled out after him, following him north, the ominously dark clouds on the horizon seeming even darker than they had before.

Devon held onto the roll bar as Danziger drove the rail at breakneck speed towards the coordinates Melanie had given them. She started to reach for her gear to open a channel, but stopped herself. _If they're under attack, the last thing they need is me asking a bunch of questions_, she told herself. _They'll call when they can._

But there had been no more word from the camp by the time they found Artie and Inez fifteen minutes later, and Devon was starting to really get worried.

"I'm so glad to see you," Inez said, holding her arms tightly around her and shivering. "We heard what Melanie said. Did she—?"

"Nothing yet," Devon said tersely.

Julia was already scanning Artie's knee, and Danziger had grabbed a length of biocord out of the rail and had gone over to look at the crashed rail.

"How does it look?" Devon said, coming up next to him.

He shook his head. "It doesn't seem to be all that banged up, but it's going to be a bitch getting it out of there." He scrambled down the bank of the river and splashed around to the other side of the rail. He tied the biocord around the roll bar on the bottom side and threw it up to her. "When I give the word, you pull, got it?" he said.

"Right," Devon said.

Danziger grabbed hold of the roll bar, crouching, and then said, "Okay, pull!"

Devon pulled hard, the biocord digging painfully into her hands, and the rail tipped over onto its wheels, splashing water up over the bank and onto Devon. Danziger was already untying the biocord and going around to the rear of the rail and tying it again onto the rear bumper.

"Inez!" he called, and she came over from where she'd been hovering over Artie as Julia scanned him.

"What do you need me to do?" she said.

"Take this and tie it onto the back end of our rail," he said. "Devon," he said, "you're going to drive our rail straight away from here when I say go, okay? We're gonna pull this sucker right out of the river."

"Okay," she said uneasily. The bank was really steep, and it didn't look to her like it was going to pull right out at all. But she ran over and got into the driver's seat.

"Are we tied off, Inez?" Danziger called.

"Roger that," Inez said, coming back over, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"Okay, stand clear, but watch from up there," Danziger said. "Tell me if we hang up on anything."

Inez nodded, shivering, and Danziger took off his jacket. "Here," he said, tossing it up to her. "I'm just gonna get wet down here anyway. Put that on before you freeze."

"Thanks," she said gratefully, and pulled it on.

"All right," he called to Devon, "haul away!"

Devon pulled the rail forward, feeling nothing, and then all at once, the slack was gone, and her rail stopped cold, the wheels spinning uselessly.

"Hold it!" Inez said. "We need to raise the back end more," she said to Danziger. "The bumper's digging into the bank."

Danziger swore.

"Inez," Devon called, "you take over here. I have an idea." She backed the rail closer to the river again, then climbed out and ran over to the ATV. She hopped in, pulled it around so it was between the rail on the bank and the one in the river, and stopped.

"What are you doing?" Inez asked as Devon climbed out of the ATV.

Devon ignored her. She grabbed the biocord and threw it up onto the ATV rollbar. She stood back and looked at the back of the rail in the river, trying to judge if the angle was right.

"Good thinking, Dev," Danziger said, standing back and watching. "As soon as we get this up a little, you'll need to pull the ATV forward."

Devon nodded and climbed back in.

"Okay, Inez, let's give it a shot!" Danziger called. "Go slow—I don't want to damage the ATV. Devon, you keep an eye on that biocord—if it looks like it's gonna slip and hit the solar panel, you holler stop."

Inez started the rail forward, and the ATV sank into the ground slightly as the pressure of the biocord pressed down on it.

"It's working!" Danziger yelled, standing to one side of the rail as the rear end lifted clear of the bank. The rear wheels hit the bank, started to roll up the bank, and the front end lifted out of the water. "Devon, pull forward, give it room!"

Within minutes, they had the rail out of the water, and Danziger had given it a once over. "It'll need some work, but it should be able to get back to camp on its own power." He smiled at Devon. "That was smart, using the ATV. I don't know if I'd've thought of it."

"Thanks," she said, smiling tentatively back at him. She felt herself starting to blush, so she turned to Julia. "How's his leg?" she asked.

"He has a little torn cartilage," Julia said, "but it looks like there isn't much damage to the ligaments. It hurts, but it'll heal pretty fast."

"Hell, yeah, it hurts," Artie said, and Julia dosed him with painblock.

"I'm really sorry," Inez said again.

"It's okay, Inez," Artie said as Devon and Julia helped him to his feet. "So what do we do now? Do we risk heading back towards camp?"

Danziger shook his head. "Not till we hear from them. I don't want to risk running into the Terriers. Not with just the two mag-pros."

"But there are injuries," Julia protested.

"Mel can handle it," Danziger said.

Julia turned to Devon, her look pleading.

Devon sighed. Every instinct told her they needed to get the hell back to the camp, that Uly was in trouble, but she knew Danziger was right. "Julia, we won't do them any good if we get ourselves killed trying to get back there."

Danziger looked relieved.

"But Inez and Artie are soaked," Julia said. "With the temperatures this cold, we're facing hypothermia. We need to get them warm and dry."

"There was that little stand of trees about a half a klick back," Danziger said. "We'll go back there and we can start a small fire."

"Fire would be good," Artie said, his teeth chattering.

Julia had Inez give Artie the coat Danziger had lent her, and she gave Inez her own. "Won't you both be cold?" Inez said.

"We won't be out here that long," Julia said, giving Devon a hard look.

_God, I hope she's right_, Devon thought as they made their way back to the spot Danziger had picked out. By the time they got the fire going, it had been almost a half an hour since they'd gotten Melanie's warning.

Artie rubbed his hands gratefully over the tiny fire. Danziger had insisted they keep it small so the smoke wouldn't give away their position, and Devon had to admit he was right. Even the small fire put out a lot of smoke. But the little bit of warmth it gave off was making a big difference for Artie and Inez. And luckily, the way the wind had started to blow, the smoke was disappearing as fast as it rose from the fire.

"Here," Devon said to Julia, shrugging out of her jacket. "You're shivering. Take this for a while."

Julia shook her head. "I'm fine," she said.

"Humor me," Devon said dryly as a round of shivers hit the doctor again. Julia acquiesced, pulling on the jacket.

"Devon…read…?" Rick's voice came over the gear, though his voice was nearly unrecognizable. But it wasn't just the static—there was something wrong.

"Yes, we're here! What's going on?" Devon said quickly.

"It's…ly bad, Devon," Rick began, and she could hear what sounded like a sob. "We need you…"

"Rick, what's wrong?" Devon said, her heart in her throat.

"…kids are okay," he said. "But…god, I… Listen, the…pulled back…south." There was a long burst of static.

"Say again, Rick," Devon said. "You're breaking up."

"Come back…be okay…from the north…went south. But…ful…call in when…close. We're…"

"What?" Devon said.

"…ready to shoot…thing," Rick said, almost shouting.

"Okay, I think I got it," Devon said. "We're on our way. We'll call when we get closer."

"Good," Rick said, and there was no mistaking the relief in his voice. "Hur…"

Devon closed the channel, swallowing down the lump in her throat, and felt Danziger's big hand on her shoulder. "Hang in there, Devon," he said.

Julia was already throwing her med kit onto the back of the ATV, and Inez and Artie were making their way to their rail.

Devon watched as Danziger covered their little fire with dirt to put it out, then shook herself. _You have to get back there_, she told herself, and clambered into the rail.

None of them said a word till they were almost back at the camp. _Not that we'd have been able to hear each other anyway_, Devon thought. The wind was howling around them, making it hard even to think. Her nose was starting to go numb, and she hated to think what the icy wind was doing to Artie and Inez. _And to Danziger_, she thought, glancing down at his wet coveralls.

"How are your feet?" she shouted over the wind.

"Fine," he said tersely, and Devon gave up, figuring it didn't really matter anyway. There was nothing she could do about it till they got back to camp.

The trip seemed like it took an eternity to Devon, though she knew they were making better time than they had on the way out. _It isn't good enough_, she thought desperately. _God, aren't we there yet?_

"Hey, Rick, you there?" Danziger shouted, and Devon jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Yeah," Rick said, and he sounded exhausted. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine," Danziger said. "We'll be rolling up in about five. Tell everybody to hold their fire, okay?"

"Yeah," Rick said, and closed the channel without another word.

They saw the first dead Terrier as they came up to the river. It had fallen halfway into the water, lying with its face against the far bank, the wind riffling through its thick fur. They rolled through the water and up past it, and found another just a few meters past the river, and several more as they approached the clear area near Dome Two.

Rick was waiting for them, his face almost gray.

"Oh, god," Inez said as they came to a stop, and Devon followed her gaze to see a body lying slumped against the side of Dome Two. She couldn't tell who it was.

"How bad…" she tried to say, but couldn't make the rest of the words come out.

"Bad," Rick said bluntly as the wind whipped around them. "Paul's dead." He took a ragged breath, looking down at the ground, and then looked up at Julia. "And…they…" He stopped, closing his eyes, then looked at Devon. "Devon, they took Mel."


	10. Chapter 10

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 10

* * *

_A/N: Mea culpa for the awful, awful cliffie. I'm a bad, bad person, and this chapter is worse. But hang in there, okay? I love you all—I mean it. __I'm desperately trying to get Chapter 11 to look more like "Guys and Dolls" Marlon Brando and less like "The Score" Marlon Brando. That's turning out to be harder than I'd hoped. But I promise, no later than Friday, okay?_

* * *

"They what?" Devon said, climbing out of the rail and trying to make sense out of what Rick had just said.

Julia stopped cold as she reached for her med-kit. She turned back to look at Rick, her face white, gripping the roll bar of the ATV like a lifeline.

"Took her?" Danziger said. "What do you mean, took her?"

Rick took a deep breath. "They came in first using their crossbows, and somehow one of them got up on the rocks behind the camp," he said. "That's how they got Paul. He was up on Dome Two standing watch, and they shot him in the back." His jaw clenched.

"Rick—" Devon began.

"Phoebe got hit in the leg, and Rob took her over to the med tent. Then they pulled back, and we thought we were okay." He shook his head. "But they weren't done. They came again, this time with mag-pros, and one of them got through and went straight for the med tent."

"Wait, they had mag-pros?" Danziger said, but Rick wasn't listening.

"That Terrier came out of the med tent carrying her. She wasn't moving, and…there was blood running down the side of her face," Rick said. "I made everybody hold their fire—I didn't want to risk hitting her. She—she's gone."

Devon turned and put her hand on Julia's arm.

"I'm okay," Julia said almost inaudibly, but she didn't move for a moment.

"Julia," Alonzo said, coming up behind her, with Helen and Bill following.

"Phoebe said Rob tried to stop it, and it hit him," Rick said. "Yale's working on him. God, Julia, I'm so sorry," he said. "I should have done more—"

Julia blinked, then shook her head like she was trying to clear it. "I need to go help with Rob and the others," she said, touching Devon's hand, and started for the med tent.

"Help me," Artie said, trying to get out of the rail. "I need to go see Phoebe." Alonzo helped him out of the rail and they started after Julia, Artie's arm around Alonzo's shoulder.

"Where are the kids?" Danziger asked Rick.

"In Dome One," Rick said. "Alonzo got them in there during the first wave. But I think Tru saw part of what happened in the med tent. She was pretty shaken up. Tosh is with them, but she's doing almost as bad as Tru. God, John, you should have seen her—Todd tried to stop the one going for the med tent, and it knocked him flying. Tosh stood over him and took out three Terriers all by herself, but once they were gone, she fell apart. We almost couldn't get her to let us take Todd to the med tent."

Danziger swallowed and nodded. "Devon, you take Rick inside and get the rest of the story from him," he said, taking command of the situation till Devon could get her bearings. "And check on the kids for me, okay? Helen, you and Bill take a rail out past the river—find a good spot to keep an eye out. I want to know sooner if they're coming. But if you see 'em, just call it in and bug out, got it?"

"Okay…" Helen said, looking almost as shell-shocked as Rick.

"I sent Sergei after them in the other rail," Rick said, and Danziger looked sharply at him. "Just to see where they went. He called in just a few minutes ago. They went east a ways, and then went up through the foothills to the south."

Danziger turned to Helen. "Get on out there and call Sergei. Get him the hell back here. I don't want anybody out there alone."

"Right," Helen said, and turned towards the rail, then looked back. "Let us know if…what's going on, okay?"

"You got it," Danziger said. He glanced over at Devon. She was still looking over at the med tent. "Devon," he said quietly, and she jumped. "Get inside. It's too cold to just stand around out here. Go find Uly."

"Right," she said absently, then looked over at him. "Yes, okay. I'll take care of Tru for you."

Danziger smiled at her. "Thanks."

Devon looked over at Rick, then took him by the arm. "Come on, Rick," she said, and they headed for Dome One.

Danziger turned to look at the rest of their defenses and saw Paul's body, still slumped against the side of Dome Two. Inez was kneeling next to him, holding his hand.

* * *

"How is he?" Julia said, coming into the med tent and slinging her med kit on the ground by the lab table. The inside of the tent was a mess—the back side was half-collapsed, and Rob was lying on the ground at the base, an oxygen mask over his face. The lab table had been knocked over, and her equipment was strewn everywhere. Todd was lying on the ground near the back entrance, unmoving. Phoebe was on her cot, one hand over her eyes.

Yale looked up from where he was scanning Rob with the diaglove. "He was having trouble breathing, and his O2 sats were low, so I put him on oxygen. But he is bleeding internally."

Julia looked over his shoulder at the scans and winced. _Multiple broken ribs, lacerated spleen, lacerated lung. Oh, Rob._ She glanced over at Phoebe, who was lying on Melanie's bunk. "Okay, hang on one second—I want to be sure Phoebe and Todd are okay before we start surgery."

Yale nodded.

Julia pulled her diaglove from the med kit, went over to Phoebe and started scanning her. Artie came in, with Alonzo helping him through the tent flap.

"What happened?" Artie said, coming over and grabbing Phoebe's hand. Alonzo grabbed the knocked-over camp stool and helped Artie sit down.

"They came in so fast," Phoebe said as Julia studied her scan. "By the time we knew the perimeter alarms had gone off, they were already on top of us. Paul didn't have a chance. They shot him before he even got a shot off. I watched him fall off the platform. He just landed on the side of the dome and slid down."

"Damn," Artie said quietly.

The wound in Phoebe's right thigh wasn't that bad, and the sutures were neat and clean. _You did good, Mel_, she thought, fighting back tears.

"Next thing I knew, I had an arrow in my leg, and they were running off," Phoebe was saying. "It wasn't till later that I figured out why they didn't just nail me with a mag-pro."

"Wait—they had mag-pros?" Julia said as she turned to look at Todd's unconscious form, and what Rick had said finally registered.

"Yeah," Phoebe said tiredly. "And they used them in the second wave. Rob got me down here to the med tent, and Mel was working on me when they came around again." She shook her head, not meeting Julia's eyes. "They hit us the first time to find out where the med tent was."

"What?" Julia said. "But…wh—?" But even as she said it, it was already clear to her why. _Mag-pros. They had mag-pros. They're working with the Council._ Julia closed her eyes for an instant, trying desperately to hold back the wave of guilt that threatened to overwhelm her. _Oh, god, it's all my fault. _For a moment, she couldn't breathe, but then she thought of Rob. _Not now. You have to help them. Deal with it later._

"When they came through the second time, that one must've come right for us," Phoebe was saying. "Rob tried to stop it, and—" She broke off, blinking hard. "He wouldn't stay down. That Terrier hit him with the butt of the mag-pro right in the chest, and that boy got up again to try and keep them away from Melanie. She was screaming at it, and she tried to hit it with a hypo, but it clocked her, and she went down hard. It hit Rob again, then grabbed Mel and took off." Phoebe looked up at Julia. "I'm so sorry, Julia. I tried to get up, to help, but—"

"It's okay," Julia said, and her voice sounded like it was a million miles away. "Look, you just need to rest. Is the painblock working okay?"

Phoebe nodded, a stray tear running down her cheek. Julia patted her shoulder, then turned to look at Todd. Just a concussion, though it was serious. But there was really nothing more she could do for the moment.

Rob was another matter. Her initial scan of him left her shaken. She glanced at Artie and then turned to Alonzo. "Listen, this is going to be pretty bad," she said quietly. "I need you to take Artie back to Dome One, okay?"

Alonzo swallowed hard, then nodded. "C'mon, Artie, you gotta let Phoebe sleep," he said.

"I'll be fine, baby," Phoebe said, clearly fighting a losing battle to stay awake. "You go on now." She squeezed his hand.

Artie glanced up at Julia, and she tried to smile reassuringly, but she knew immediately from the look on his face that she'd failed. She turned quickly back to look at Rob and heard Alonzo helping Artie into the entryway to Dome One. "Yale, I'm going to need your help," she said. "I need to go in and repair some of the internal damage, and I'll need you to keep a continuous scan going and let me know if any of his vitals drop." She glanced up at him, and he nodded, but he looked tired. "Are you up for this? It's going to take a while."

"I will be fine, Doctor," he said. "And Rob cannot wait."

Julia nodded, and started in on Rob. But even as she tried to keep her focus on the surgery, there was a part of her mind running over everything Phoebe had said. _They came right for the med tent_, she thought sickly. _This is all my fault. Melanie…_

* * *

"But why would they target the med tent?" Devon said after Rick had told them all he knew, and then Tru had given them her account of what had happened inside the med tent. "It doesn't make any sense."

"It does if the Council sent them," Valerie said grimly.

Devon turned sharply to look at her. "You don't think—?"

"Devon, they had mag-pros," Valerie said. "Where else would they get them?"

"They could have picked them up from another Council scouting group," Devon said, trying desperately to find another explanation.

"And just magically figured out how to use them?" Valerie said. "No, Devon, you know I'm right. And you know why they went after the med tent, too."

"They were after Julia," Alonzo said, coming into the entryway from the med tent with Artie's arm over his shoulder. "I knew it the minute that second wave came in, but I couldn't—" He stopped, looking shattered.

"But why?" Devon said.

"Revenge," Valerie said, as if it was obvious.

"No," Devon said, shaking her head. "They're vindictive, but there has to be more to it than that. They've been trying to kill all of us, and they probably could if they get enough Terriers together. No, they wanted her for some reason."

"Maybe they were after both her and Mel," Helen said. "That'd leave us without a doctor."

"Who cares why?" Tru said furiously. "Shut up and go get her!"

"Oh, Tru—" Devon began.

"Devon, you have to go get her! I was right there, and I couldn't—" She stopped, breathing hard. "But you can!"

"She's right. We can figure out the whys later," Danziger said. He knelt in front of Tru and took her by both shoulders. "Don't you worry, Tru-girl. We'll get her back." He stood up and turned to look at the others. "Valerie, you and Rick get three of the mag-pros and meet me by the rail. Suit up for cold weather." He started for the door. "Tosh," he said as he went, "we're going to need—"

"No," Devon said, raising her voice. "Danziger, everyone, stop."

"What?" Danziger said, turning back to look at her in surprise. Alonzo helped Artie sit down at one of the tables, then turned to give Devon a questioning look.

"We're not going after her," Devon said evenly.

"What?" It came from several of the people surrounding her, but not from Valerie. She was looking at Devon with a look of utter shock.

"It's too dangerous," Devon said. "Between the storm coming in and the possibility the Terriers could come back…no, I just can't allow it."

"You can't allow it?" Valerie said, and her voice was colder than the air outside.

"Valerie, please," Devon said.

"You can't be serious!" Valerie continued. "We can't just abandon her!"

"I'm not abandoning—"

"Devon, we have to go," Alonzo said, stepping up close to her. "We have to! You know what this will do—" He stopped himself, but his glance toward the med tent spoke volumes.

"No," Devon said. "Nobody is going anywhere." _Come on, Danziger_, she thought desperately. _ Back me up here. You know this is the right thing to do, you __know__ it!_ But she wouldn't let herself look at him. It had to come from him, without her prompting, or there'd still be those questioning it. She held her breath.

Alonzo stared at her, appalled.

After an eternity of silence, Danziger sighed. "She's right," he said, sounding like the words were being forced out physically. "God knows I hate to say it, but she's right."

Devon sighed in relief.

"But Dad—!" Tru began.

"None of us is going to do Melanie any good if we get ourselves killed trying to get to her," Danziger said. "The only safe way to do it would be to go in force, and that would leave the camp wide open for another attack. Never mind what anybody going out would risk with the weather." He shook his head. "She's right. It's too dangerous."

"She's still alive," Valerie said, looking horrified. "Devon, please."

Devon took a deep breath through her nose, trying to hold the tears at bay. "Yes, she's still alive. That's exactly what I'm counting on. If they wanted her dead, she'd be dead, wouldn't she? As soon as the storm passes, we'll start sending out scouts. Everybody who's had methohex will go on rotation. If we can reach some of the friendly Terriers, we can ask them for help." She stepped close to speak directly to Valerie. "Valerie, I'm not abandoning her. I'm not."

Valerie shook her head, clutching the mag-pro like she wanted to hit someone with it, and for a moment Devon was afraid she might. But Valerie turned on her heel and stalked off toward the door to the outside, flinging the mag-pro to the floor as she went.

"I'll talk to her," Toshiko said, though even she looked angry.

"No," Devon said. "It's me she's angry with, and she has every right to be." She turned back to look around at everyone. "If anyone else wants to take a swing at me, I'll be right here or…" She broke off, then took a deep breath. "Or in the med tent. The rest of you, see what you can do with clean-up. The storm's coming in fast, and we can't afford to let anything blow away. Those of you who saw what happened, work with Rick to do what you can to shore up our defenses. I don't want them getting through to Dome One again. Got it?"

There was a long moment of sullen silence, then Rick nodded. "Andy, you and Nick, come on. I have an idea."

"Danziger," she said, looking over at him. "I want to see Hardy."

He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Yeah…okay. I'll go get him."

Devon turned and headed for the back entrance as Rick rattled off orders, feeling the stares through her back as she walked. She got inside the entryway leading to the med tent, turned to lean her forehead against the bioplast wall, and let the tears come.

* * *

Rob's surgery went remarkably well. The damage to the spleen had been the worst, and Julia had been worried she might have to remove it, but it looked like it was going to hold up. Phoebe had fallen asleep sometime during the first hour. Julia sent Yale over to scan Phoebe once she was through the worst of the work, and then she started closing.

"Dr. Heller," Yale said, "come over here."

"What is it?" Julia said hoarsely, glancing up.

"It's Phoebe," he said. "Her color is strange, and she seems to be having trouble breathing."

"What?" Julia said, finishing her last suture. "How long?"

"Only for a few moments," Yale said. "No more than ten seconds."

She grabbed the diaglove from Yale and started the scan, but she already could tell what was happening. Phoebe's lips were a grayish-blue. The diaglove showed her blood pressure was dropping fast, already below 50. _Oh, god, _Julia thought, _it's an embolism. But she was on anticoagulants!_ She read the rest of the scan. There was definitely a pulmonary embolism, and it was massive. Julia turned to her dispensary. _Desmoteplase, where the hell is it?_ She grabbed it, slammed it into a hypospray and injected it directly over the site of the embolism.

_Come on_, she thought, _come on!_ But the blood pressure was still dropping. The diaglove started the whine signaling no pulse.

"No," Julia said. "Come on, Phoebe! Stay with me!" She set the diaglove to defibrillate. "Clear!" she said in case Yale was in contact with her. Phoebe's body jolted as the shock passed through her. The whine continued. She grabbed a hypospray and slapped in another vial, this time adrenaline. She injected it, then defibrillated again. Still the whine continued. "Come on!"

"What's going on?" Alonzo said, coming into the tent from outside. "Julia? What's—?"

Julia began heart compressions. "Yale, bag her," she said. "O2."

"Bag—" he said, and then looked around.

Julia grabbed wildly for an oxygen mask attached to a plastic bag lying on the ground near the entrance to the dome. "Plug the tube into the O2 canister there," she said, shoving it into his hands and pointing. "And put it over her mouth. Then squeeze the bag twice between heart compressions."

Yale did as he was told, and Julia returned to heart compressions. She continued for several more seconds, then set the diaglove to defibrillate again. "Clear!"

Yale reared back, and Alonzo watched as Phoebe's body jolted again, but the grating whine from the diaglove continued.

"Come on!" Julia ground out. "It should be working!" She ran the scan again, and was horrified to see that there were even more embolisms appearing, and the original one showed no change. _It's like her blood is all clotting at once_, she thought. The anticoagulants and desmoteplase were having no effect at all. She let out a breath, looking from the scan to the dispensary and back again.

"Julia," Yale said gently, reading the scan from where he stood, "there is nothing more we can do."

"No!" Julia snapped. "There has to be—!" But she stopped, looked down at the scan again, and let out a ragged breath. She bowed her head, closing her eyes, then shut down the diaglove alarm, took off the glove and laid it next to Phoebe.

"What happened?" Alonzo said. "I thought she just got shot in the leg! She was fine!"

"It appears to be some sort of enzyme," Yale said, studying the diaglove readout. "It must be something from G-889. It caused her blood to clot too quickly for the anticoagulants to control."

Julia was staring at Phoebe's body. "I hate this planet," she whispered.

Yale picked up a blanket from behind the cot and draped it over Phoebe. "Perhaps we should check Rob to be sure the enzyme is not present in his system," Yale said.

Julia looked up at him blankly for a moment, then nodded. She took the diaglove back from him, studied it for a few seconds, then turned to where Rob was sleeping peacefully. She ran the scan over him and sighed in relief. "He's okay," she said. "No sign of the enzyme. I've done all I can for him at this point. Keep an eye on him, Yale. If anything changes, even slightly, call me on gear. I have to go tell…" She stopped, swallowing hard.

"Yes, Doctor," he said gravely.

* * *

Danziger came into Dome One with Hardy in tow. He looked around for Tru and spotted her sitting next to Uly on his bunk, and she glanced up at him. She smiled a watery smile, then the smile disappeared as she looked over at Devon. She was sitting at one of the tables, lost in thought.

"Wait here," he muttered to Hardy, left him by the door and headed over to Devon. "Now you know the other reason I didn't try to take over after O'Neill died," he said.

Devon looked up at Danziger and smiled without humor.

"It's the right call, Devon," he said, sitting down next to her and putting his arm around her shoulders. "Don't beat yourself up about it."

Devon brushed with one hand at a stray tear running down her cheek. "Yeah, like I can stop that."

He smiled wryly. "You can't blame a guy for trying," he said. He squeezed her against him. "We'll get her back. It'll just take a little while, that's all."

"How long does she have, John?" Devon whispered so Uly and Tru wouldn't hear. "What if—?"

"Hey," he said and reached around with his free hand to turn her face towards him. "Don't go gettin' all glass-half-empty on me, Adair."

There was the sound of the back door opening, and then Julia came through the inner door, Alonzo at her heels. Devon whirled to look at them, and her breath caught as she saw Julia's expression.

"Aw, damn," Danziger breathed.

"It's Rob, isn't it?" Devon choked out.

Julia shook her head. "Phoebe," she said quietly, glancing over to where Artie lay sleeping on one of the bunks.

"What?" Devon said, shocked. "But she was—"

"Something must have been on the arrow that hit her," Julia said, her voice barely audible. "Some sort of enzyme. She started throwing clots, and…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then continued. "It happened really fast. I don't think she felt a thing."

Devon put her face in both hands.

"But Rob's going to be okay," Julia said quickly. "It took some doing, but unless he has some major complications, he should recover. It will take a while—there was damage to his spleen and—" She stopped and took another breath. "It was bad, but he's going to make it."

Devon didn't respond.

"Devon, I'm so sorry," Julia said, stepping closer to the table. "I tried—I really—"

Devon looked up at that. "Oh, Julia, I don't—it's not your fault," she said. "It's just hard to take in right now."

Julia nodded. "Look, I think Rob's stable enough for me to leave him in Yale's hands," she said, and then took a breath like she was preparing for a fight. "I want to go with the team going after Melanie. I know what you're going to say, but Phoebe said she was injured, and I—" She stopped, frowning questioningly at Devon's stricken expression.

"Doc, we—" Danziger began, but Devon put out her hand to stop him.

"I made the decision not to send anyone after her until after the storm passes," Devon said, and braced herself.

Julia looked blankly at her for a long moment, then glanced over at Danziger, but he was looking at Devon. "You made the decision," Julia said finally, looking back at Devon, and there was ice in her voice.

"Yes, Julia," Devon said. "It's too dangerous. The storm is moving in, and we have no idea how many Terriers we'd be up against. I can't take the risk."

"I can," Julia said, squaring her shoulders. "I'm going. Don't you dare try to stop me."

"Ease down, Doc," Danziger said, looking appealingly at Alonzo.

"Julia," Alonzo said, "just listen—"

"No," Devon said quietly. She stood up, shaking off Danziger's arm, and looked steadily at Julia. "Stay out of this, both of you. Julia, you know I can't let you do that."

"Devon, they targeted the med tent deliberately," Julia said, her voice rising. "You know why. It's my fault they took her! You have to let me go!"

"No," Devon said. "Why they took her doesn't matter. It doesn't change—"

"It changes everything!" Julia shouted.

Alonzo winced, looking over at Danziger. He was looking at Tru, who was sitting with Uly on his bunk, a stricken look on her face.

"What's goin'—?" Artie said, sitting up and looking over at them, but he broke off when he saw Julia's expression. "Oh."

Julia leaned over the table, staring Devon in the face. "Devon, you can't be that cold!"

"I can't let you go, Julia," Devon said, her voice as even and quiet as it had been.

"Would you say that if it were Uly?" Julia said savagely.

Devon looked like she'd been slapped. She looked away from Julia, swallowing hard. She turned to glance at Uly, who was sitting in his bunk, his knees pulled up against his chest, his head bowed against them and his arms wrapped around his head as though he were trying to shut out everything. Tru had her hand on his shoulder, but she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else at that moment. Devon sighed, then turned back to look Julia in the eye. "I don't know," she whispered, her voice like shattered glass.

"Liar!" Julia snarled, her eyes almost black.

"Julia, don't," Alonzo said, coming close and whispering. "Uly's right over—"

"Can you seriously say to me that you wouldn't do anything to get Uly back if it were him? That you wouldn't claw through steel to get to him? You did it once already, and I was right there with you!"

Tru made a tiny sound and ran for the door of the dome. Danziger stood up, looking like he was about to go after her, but he hesitated, then turned back to look at Devon.

"You were," Devon said, "and you kept me from diving right into the river after him. It was the right thing to do, even if I couldn't see it at the time."

"I'm not talking about diving into a river!" Julia snapped.

"No, but this storm could be just as dangerous. Maybe even worse," Devon said. "Julia, we're going to need everyone to make it to New Pacifica, you most of all. And we have to get there to warn the colony ship, or we could lose all of those families. I will do everything I can to get Melanie back safely, but I can't risk losing any more of us trying to do it. When the storm is over, we'll try to reach the friendly Terriers—"

"By then it could be too late!" Julia pleaded. "We have to go now, while they're still close! She's too important to us. Devon, I need her!"

"And if it came down to a choice between one person and the entire colony ship, would you really sacrifice all those children?" Devon said.

This time it was Julia who looked shocked, pulling back from the table and away from Devon. After a long moment, she looked down at the ground. "I would for Melanie," she whispered.

Devon stood up and came around the table. "Back on the stations, all those families whose children weren't healthy enough to come with us, I made you tell them because I couldn't face making that decision," she said. "That wasn't fair to you. I know that, now more than ever. This is my call, Julia. Mine. And if you want to hate me for it, I—" her voice broke, "I'll understand. But I can't let you go."

Julia finally looked up at her, and she looked utterly betrayed. Then she turned and ran for the back door, knocking Alonzo aside as she went.

"Julia!" Alonzo called, running after her. "Wait!"

Devon sank down onto the bench. "I can't do this anymore," she whispered, leaning over and wrapping her arms around her head, looking so much like Uly it almost broke Danziger's heart. He put his arm around her shoulders, wishing he knew what to say.

"I used to know a guy, when I was working Port Authority at Station Five," Hardy said, coming up.

Devon looked up sharply. She hadn't realized he was even there.

"A captain, one of the good ones. Worked his way up through the ranks from non-com. Remember the Centauri flu epidemic? There was a ship about to dock. They'd called a medical emergency, and they had fourteen cases in the crew. They wouldn't stand off, and one of the Port Authority guys was telling them to come in, against direct orders. There hadn't been any cases on Five yet, and this captain told the ship that he'd shoot them out of the sky if they didn't stand off. Their captain finally backed down, and they ended up with twelve dead when it was all over. But nobody on Five ever got Centauri flu." Hardy smiled humorlessly at her. "My boss asked the cap how he could sleep at night. Know what he said?"

"What?" Devon said faintly, wondering where he was headed with this.

"Scotch and sedatives," Hardy said.

Danziger barked a laugh.

"She'll get over it," Hardy said, glancing back at the door to the med tent. "Sooner or later."

Devon stared at him, and he shrugged, looking a little sheepish. "I know. Like I told Danziger, my dad always said I had a thick skull. I just—I was wrong about her." He stopped, clenching his jaw. "I saw somebody else look like that once. You can't fake that." He shook his head. "I wouldn't want to be the Council guy who has to face her. But I'd love to be there to watch," he added, a savage undertone to his voice.

Devon shook her head. She'd been prepared to blame him, she'd even been talking herself out of strangling him with her bare hands, but she couldn't seem to make herself say anything.

"Listen," Hardy continued. "I know what happened. It wasn't me, but I wouldn't blame you for thinking it was. And if I could trade places with Phoebe or Melanie, I would." He took a deep breath. "But I can't. So I guess the next best thing is letting you do whatever you want to me." He looked at her steadily. "I won't argue."

And just like that, all of Devon's anger towards him evaporated. But somehow, that wasn't the relief she'd thought it would be. The anger had been something she could hold onto, something that kept every other emotion at bay, and now…

Devon barely noticed when Danziger took her in his arms as she sobbed helplessly.

* * *

Julia tore through the flap to the med tent, and Yale jumped, startled.

"Julia, listen, I'll talk to Devon," Alonzo said, following her. "We'll figure something out. We'll get her back. I swear."

"Leave me alone, Alonzo," Julia said.

"I know it seems bad right now, but—"

"I said, leave me alone," Julia said, her voice so completely controlled it was like she was a different person than she'd been moments before. She leaned over the lab table, staring blindly at it.

"Julia—"

Julia took a deep breath. "Alonzo, right now, I want to do something, anything, and I have no options," she said tightly. She looked up at him. "Don't give me one by staying in this tent. I don't want to hurt you, but I will. You have to go."

Alonzo nodded slowly. "Okay," he said quietly. "I—I'll talk to Artie." He looked at her for a long moment, then turned and headed back into the dome.

Yale cleared his throat gently after a long moment. "Rob is still stable," he said very quietly.

Julia nodded, then noticed that he had set the lab table back up and had begun replacing the items that had been on it. And then she saw the empty bunk. "Where's Phoebe?"

"I asked Rick and Andy to take her to Dome Two, where they have Paul. They will be safe there until we can bury them."

"Thank you," Julia said tersely. She reached out and picked up the little six-legged figurine Melanie had gotten Danziger to carve for her. Yale had set it in the center of the lab table. One of the little horns had broken off.

"What do you need, Julia?"

"I need Melanie," she ground out. She looked over at him. "Can you do that for me?"

"I truly wish I could," he said.

Julia looked back down at the lab table. "Devon needs you more than I do right now," she said tonelessly.

Yale nodded and started toward the dome, then hesitated at the tent flap. "Julia, you will not do anything…foolish, will you?"

Julia looked up at him and smiled bitterly. "Devon has made it perfectly clear where my responsibilities lie. I'm not going anywhere."

Yale left the tent without another word.

Julia knelt and carefully placed the figurine inside one of the storage cases, then stood up and violently swept everything on the lab table to the floor again. Melanie's tablet flew across the tent and landed face-down underneath Rob's cot.

* * *

Artie took the news of Phoebe's death hard. Alonzo glanced over to where Toshiko was holding him in her arms, rocking him gently as he sobbed quietly, and had to blink back tears of his own. _It isn't fair_, he thought. _None of it._ He looked back at the entryway to the med tent for what had to be the thousandth time, wishing he could go in and help Julia somehow, and knowing it would only make things worse.

No one was talking, even though nearly everyone was inside the dome. Rick and the others had decided to abandon Dome Two for the time being, leaving it empty except for Phoebe and Paul.

"The way the storm's going," Rick had told Danziger over the gear, "I think it's safer to have everybody in one place."

He was right about the storm. It was howling loud enough now to be heard faintly even through the dome. Danziger had called in Bill and Helen, figuring it was bad enough out there that another attack was unlikely. They'd arrived with their cheeks and noses bright red with the cold.

The outer door banged open again, the wind ripping it out of Danziger's hands as he came in. He managed to push it shut again with both hands, then shook his head, sending wet snow flying around him.

"How is Tru?" Devon said as he came over to where she sat.

Danziger shrugged. "She's not talking right now," he said. "I figure she'll be fine in the Transrover. Heck, that heater might even keep her warmer than we are."

Devon nodded and then went back to staring at the table.

"Listen," Danziger said, "I was thinking about what you said about getting the Terriers to help. We're gonna be stuck here till this storm blows over. Why don't a few of us go ahead and get dosed with that metho-whatever stuff? The more of us who have it, the better the chances of us finding help, right?"

Devon nodded again. "Who did you have in mind?" she said.

"Helen already volunteered," he said. "And I'm up for it. To tell you the truth, I'd just as soon sleep through a few hours of this." He looked around at the sullen and depressed group, then smiled humorlessly at Devon. "I'm betting we can find a few more volunteers."

Devon smiled faintly back at him. "No kidding," she said. "Hell, I wish Mel hadn't already—" She stopped and closed her eyes. She swallowed hard. "Would you go talk to Julia about it?" she said finally.

"Sure," he said. "Listen, if I'm gonna be out of it for a few hours, would you mind checking in on Tru for me? Make her come in if the storm gets worse."

"Are you sure she'll want me to?" Devon said hesitantly. The last thing she wanted was to go through with Tru what she'd already been through with Julia.

Danziger shrugged. "I figure the sooner you talk to her about it, the better she'll be," he said. "I think what really upset her was having the two people she respects the most yelling at each other." He smiled wryly. "She doesn't want to be mad at you, Devon. She likes you too much."

He headed for the med tent, and Devon watched him go, hoping he was right.

A few minutes later, Julia came in with Danziger at her heels, holding a wobbly-looking Todd by one arm. Toshiko made a tiny noise and flung herself into Todd's arms, holding him for a long time before she helped him over to a bunk.

Julia walked over and spoke quietly to Yale, handing him a hypospray and two small vials. She turned and headed back into the med tent without another word to anyone.

Yale got Danziger and Helen settled in their bunks, and dosed them with the methohex.

Devon didn't think it was possible, but the silence in the dome got even worse once they were asleep. And the howling wind outside only emphasized it. Devon looked up at the skylight of the dome, but all she could see was snow whipping past the clear bioplast. It did look like it was getting dark, but she couldn't tell if that was because night was falling or the storm clouds were that dark. She glanced over at the chronometer above the entryway to the med tent. It read just past seventeen hundred.

It had only been four hours since they'd gotten back to camp, she realized. It seemed like far longer.

* * *

Tru hugged her knees to her chest, but even with the heater going in the Transrover, it was getting too cold to stay there, and the wind howling outside was starting to get frightening. _Maybe things are better in there by now_, she thought, but she doubted it. Julia had been so angry, even more angry than she'd been when she went after Morgan right after the crash. At one point, Tru was worried she'd take a swing at Devon. But worst of all, Devon had looked like she felt like she deserved it.

Tru felt bad for abandoning Uly like that, but she just couldn't stand to watch everyone fall apart. It was almost as bad as watching her mother dying, and she felt just as helpless to do anything about it.

She sighed, then scrubbed at her face with the sleeve of her jacket, sniffling. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to know how upset she'd been. She looked out at the wind whipping the snow around, and braced herself, then opened the door.

It was bitter cold, so cold she almost couldn't breathe. She ducked her face into her jacket and climbed down, struggling to keep the door open against the violent force of the wind. She got to the ground and turned towards the dome, trying to orient herself by the faint light from its glow. It was already getting harder to see it as the wind shrieked at her, blowing the suddenly heavy snow into her eyes.

She turned back to shut the door to the Transrover, but the wind had other ideas. In an instant it had shifted, and what should have been easy suddenly wasn't. The door ripped out of her hands, hit the side of the Transrover, then swung back and crashed into her face with stunning force.

Tru fell sprawling backwards and lay in the snow, blinking vaguely. After several seconds, she rolled over onto her hands and knees. Blood dripped from her nose, staining the snow, though in the dim light it looked black. _Get up_, she thought. _You need to get inside_.

She struggled to her feet, but the wind kept pushing at her, and she fell to one side. She made it to her feet one more time, and this time she took a few stumbling steps before she fell again.

Tru made it to her hands and knees again and decided it was safer to stay that way. She looked up, but she couldn't see anything anymore. The snow was so thick, everything was swallowed up in whirling white flakes.

_Where's the dome?_ she thought, looking all around her. But she couldn't find it in the icy whiteness.

* * *

The howling of the wind outside the dome intensified so fast everyone in the dome looked up. Suddenly, it was almost a roar even through the thick bioplast dome.

"The storm's getting worse," Bess said unnecessarily, and her voice was a shock in the wake of hours of angry silence. "Maybe we should go bring Tru back in."

"I'll go," Toshiko said, jumping at the chance to get out of the horrible tension, even for a short while.

"Bill, go with her," Devon said. "I don't want anybody outside alone till the storm's over, got it? And take biocord with you and tie it to the dome so you can find your way back. The way the wind is blowing the snow around, it would be easy to get disoriented."

Bill got up and followed Toshiko to the door, grabbing his coat and putting it on as he went. He stopped to grab a length of biocord in the entryway. The sound of the wind grew to deafening levels as they opened the door.

"Somebody should talk to Julia," Bess said after the door shut.

"And say what?" Devon said tiredly.

"I just mean, she should know she's not alone," Bess said.

"She knows," Devon said. "I think she wishes she was."

Bess looked sick at that thought, and the room returned to silence, or what would have been silence without the howling wind.

A few minutes passed, and Sergei looked over at Danziger. "How long till they wake up again?"

"Ten minutes less than the last time you asked," Valerie said tersely.

"This is stupid," Morgan said. "We all hate what happened, but given the storm, I think it's clear that Devon was absolutely right. Does anybody really think we could have found Melanie in this?" He gestured at the roof of the dome, where they could faintly see snow swirling in the wind.

"It doesn't matter who's right or wrong," Devon said. "It'd hurt just the same either way."

The door crashed open and Toshiko came running in with Bill on her heels. "She's gone!" Toshiko said breathlessly.

"What do you mean, gone?" Devon said, her eyes wide. _No, not Tru, too. It would destroy us. __No!_

"I mean, she's not in the Transrover," Toshiko said. "Devon, it's bad out there. The wind is blowing the snow around so bad we barely found the Transrover, and we were feeling our way along the dome."

"We couldn't find any trace of her," Bill said. "We figured it'd be better to get back here and get everyone looking. She couldn't have gotten far." He cringed at the horrified looks he got. "I mean, she couldn't have been gone long. She'd turned off the heater in the Transrover, but it was still warm in the cab. I think she must have tried to come back on her own, and she got lost in the snow."

Devon nodded. "Bill, you and Helen, take the left side, from the side of the rocks, and then sweep back towards the door. Rick and I will do the same on the right. If we don't find her on the first pass, we'll move in by a few meters and sweep back the other way. Got it?"

"What's going on?" Julia said, coming in from the med tent.

"Tru's missing," Valerie said.

"What?!"

"We're going to search for her," Devon said.

"Let me get the med kit," Julia said, starting to head back to the med tent.

"No," Devon said. "I don't want to risk any more people out there than we absolutely have to. We've already got people gearing up to get out there. You stay here and get things set up to treat her when we get her back, okay?"

Devon held her breath as Julia looked for a moment like she'd argue, but she finally nodded.

"Be careful," Julia said to the group. "Don't stay out for more than fifteen minutes. It's cold enough you could easily get frostbite on exposed skin in that amount of time with the wind blowing like this."

"If you find her, get her back to the dome immediately and call in the rest of the searchers by yanking on their biocord," Devon said, and headed for the door. She grabbed her parka and pulled it on.

Bill grabbed her arm. "Devon, there's something else," he whispered, leaning close so she could hear him over the roar of the wind outside. "I didn't tell Tosh, but…I think there was blood on the door of the Transrover."

Devon blanched. "Don't tell anyone," she said. "I'll start from there. If something happened, she's probably close to there."

Bill nodded.

Devon turned to look at the others as they gathered at the door and Bill handed a fifty meter length of biocord to her. "We're going to find her," she said emphatically. "Whatever it takes." She wrapped a spare t-shirt around her face and pulled her hood close over her eyes. _She has to be okay_, she thought opening the door onto the howling storm. _She has to. If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself._

* * *

_I have to find the dome_, Tru thought, holding her arms around her middle to try to ward of the icy wind. _I have to get back without them knowing I got lost._ But she couldn't see anything at all—the wind had somehow gotten even stronger, and it was shifting back and forth, whipping the snow into a blinding white mass around her.

Tru hesitated, trying to decide which way to go, and she knew that if she chose wrong, she'd probably die. _And I can't do that to them_, she thought desperately. _Not when everything is going wrong_. She turned around, trying to find something, anything to orient herself by, but there was nothing but snow.

_Stay put_, she told herself. _They'll figure out you're gone, and they'll come after you. But if you go the wrong way, you'll make it harder for them. Just stay put._

"But it's too cold," she whispered, curling up into a ball to try to protect her face from the painfully cold wind. "I can't stay out here like this."

_Daddy, I really need you to come find me._

"Dad!" she called weakly. "Help!"

* * *

_Dear god_, Devon thought as she struggled towards the Transrover along the side of the dome. _How did this storm get so bad so fast?_ She couldn't see anything in the whirling snow, and the cold was already making her face hurt, even through her makeshift scarf. "TRU!" she called. "Where are you?!"

"Can you see the 'Rover?" Rick shouted from behind her, and even though she knew he was yelling at the top of his lungs, she could barely hear him over the howling wind.

_Tru will never hear us calling for her_, she thought desperately. "No!" she shouted back at Rick. "How close do you think it is?"

"We need to get to the cliff side. From there it should be about five meters," Rick said.

Devon nodded, even though she knew he probably couldn't see her, and continued feeling her way along the dome. Only a few steps farther, she jammed her fingers painfully into the rock wall of the cliff. "Okay, here's the cliff!" she shouted back at Rick.

It took what seemed like forever to make it to the Transrover. Devon felt her way along the vehicle and finally made it to the door. It was still open, but it was banging back and forth as the wind shifted. Devon grabbed at it and it tore free from her grasp as she tried to close it. _God_, she thought, _if it did that to me, what would it have done to Tru?_

"TRU!" she yelled, fighting to close the door. She knelt down, feeling along the ground beside the vehicle.

"Can you hear us?" Rick bellowed. "Tru!"

"Come on," Devon said, starting toward the front of the Transrover on her hands and knees. She felt around her as she crawled, praying they'd find Tru soon. There was no way she could stay out here much longer and survive. Devon's face was already numb, and she could barely feel her fingers, even with the gloves.

"Tru!" Rick called again, his voice vanishing in the wind.

There was a faint noise from somewhere in front of them. "Rick, quiet for a second!" She listened, but there wasn't anything more. "TRU!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Say something!"

Still nothing. Devon crawled forward another couple of meters and tried again. "TRU!"

This time she heard something, a faint whimper. "Rick, hurry!" she called back, and crawled towards the sound. "Tru, honey, where are you?"

Devon found Tru by nearly crawling over her. She wasn't moving at all. "Tru?" she said, leaning close over her. "Come on, Tru, say something, please!"

"D-don't be m-mad at me," Tru said, her voice barely audible.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm not mad!" Devon said, scooping her into her arms, the relief nearly overwhelming her.

"Is she okay?" Rick said, crawling up next to them. "You want me to take her?"

"No!" Devon said, knowing it was irrational, that Rick could handle her better, but the idea of letting go of Tru at that moment was inconceivable. "We need to get her inside fast."

"I'll go ahead and pull the biocord so you can follow, okay?" Rick said.

"Good, and get Helen and Bill back when you get there," Devon said. She struggled to lift Tru. "Hang on, Tru, we're almost home."

Tru didn't respond. Devon fought back a wave of fear and felt Rick tug at the biocord. She staggered to her feet and started to follow him. It was a nightmare getting back to the dome, each step a struggle against the wind, and Tru's limp form in her arms driving her to push harder. By the time she got to the door, Helen and Bill had already made it back. Helen grabbed Tru out of her arms, and Devon didn't have the energy to protest. Bill took her arm and helped her inside.

"Over here!" Julia said, guiding Helen over to a bunk. Devon was horrified to see the blood halfway frozen on Tru's face as Julia brushed the snow away. Helen laid Tru gently on the bunk and Julia began running the diaglove over her.

"Sit down," Toshiko said, coming up next to her. "How is your face?"

Devon sank down onto one of the benches, but didn't answer. She couldn't feel her face at all, but all she could think of was what Danziger would do if Tru didn't make it.

"Devon," Toshiko said gently, "she's going to be all right." Toshiko put her hands on either side of Devon's face, and the warmth was a shock, even through the t-shirt. Toshiko held her hands there for a long moment, then helped Devon peel the shirt away.

"Jeez," Valerie said, "you look like one of Bill's tomatoes." She handed her a cup of warm water.

Devon's hands were shaking, so Toshiko helped her take a drink. She could barely stand to swallow the water, it seemed so hot, even though she knew it couldn't be much more than lukewarm. But it felt good once it was inside her, and she started to come out of her haze.

"How are the others?" she said.

"Fine," Valerie said. "Yale says that Helen was on the verge of frostbite on her nose, but she's fine."

"And Tru?" she said hesitantly.

Valerie glanced over her shoulder, then turned back, smiling in relief. "Her eyes are open, and she looks terrified," she said. "You didn't yell at her, did you?"

Devon shook her head. "She asked me not to be mad at her," she said, and had to blink back tears.

Yale came up with a diaglove and ran it over her, making reassuring noises. "You were wise to wear that shirt," he said finally. "You're in better shape than Helen."

Devon brushed him away and stood up, and Yale steadied her. She made her way over to where Julia was working on Tru. "How is she?"

Julia glanced up, then looked back at the diaglove. "Patches of frostbite on her face, and a concussion. And her nose is broken. But she'll be fine."

"I'm really sorry," Tru whispered, glancing uneasily from Julia to Devon. "I didn't mean to—"

"Tru, it's okay," Devon said, sitting down on the edge of the bunk and patting her leg. "I'm not angry. I'm just glad you're safe. We all are, okay?"

"Do you have to tell my dad?" Tru said.

Devon smiled. "I think he's going to notice the broken nose," she said. "But don't worry, I'll make sure he's not mad at you, either."

* * *

Julia sat at her lab table, staring blindly at the tablet in front of her. She couldn't seem to focus on anything except replaying every moment of the last twenty-four hours.

Tru had fallen asleep almost as soon as Julia had finished setting her nose and applying neoderm to the patches of frostbite. Devon had stayed by her side through the whole ordeal, which had been an ordeal of a different sort for Julia. She'd tried not to let her anger towards Devon show as she worked on Tru, but Tru had kept looking back and forth between them, her distress nearly palpable.

It had been an enormous relief to escape back to the med tent once Tru was asleep. All Julia could think of when she looked at Devon was Melanie—and no matter how much she tried to stay hopeful, the images flashing through her mind got increasingly grim.

And no matter how obvious it was that Devon's decision had been the right one, Julia simply couldn't find a way to forgive her.

Julia sighed explosively, and then heard someone come into the tent from the dome. "I'm not going to talk to her," Julia said.

Valerie pulled up short. Julia hadn't even turned from where she was leaning over Rob, studying her diaglove.

"I wouldn't ask you to," Valerie said.

"Good."

Valerie walked quietly over to the camp stool beside the lab table and sat down. And waited.

It didn't take long.

"What do you want, Valerie?" Julia said, and the sound of her voice was almost feral. She turned to look at Valerie, and it took some effort for Valerie not to recoil from Julia's expression.

"It felt like I was drowning," Valerie said, suddenly finding her shoes fascinating.

"What?" Julia said, and the savage tone had eased. A little.

"All the time I was with her, I didn't realize…" She looked up at Julia. "I don't know when it happened, but at some point, she had become the air, and when she was gone, I couldn't breathe."

Julia didn't say anything, and Valerie looked back down. "My therapist said it was normal, that it would get better, and I almost hit her. Like I wanted it to get better!" She laughed, and felt bitter bile in her throat. "Every single day, it felt like waking up was a betrayal, because I had told Jamie I couldn't live without her, but there I was, with my heart still beating." She finally looked up at Julia, who was looking impassively back at her. "They put me into protective custody. Two weeks. Lots of drugs, group therapy, talking about our feelings, drawing pictures. I'll never draw another stick figure as long as I live. You know what finally got me out of there?"

Julia shook her head almost imperceptibly, but the look in her eyes was softer.

"Math. My boss sent me a bunch of math puzzles. 'I thought you might be bored,' he said." She smiled at the memory. "I did the first one in five minutes. And it was the first five minutes in almost a month that I didn't hurt. Don't get me wrong, it hurt again the second I thought about it, but for those few minutes…" She trailed off. She stood up, looking down at Julia almost fiercely. "Be a doctor. Use that first-class brain of yours. Figure out how to stop whatever killed Phoebe. Fix Rob. Anything to get through the next few days."

"And then what?" Julia whispered.

"Then we go get her," Valerie said as if it was obvious.

Julia watched her go back into the dome. _It would be pretty to think so_, she thought tiredly.

* * *

By the time the storm finally blew itself out two days after Tru's rescue, nearly everyone was at their breaking point. Bill had come within an inch of decking Morgan when he said something under his breath about Tru, and even Toshiko had snapped at Helen over some minor irritation. Devon was glad that they'd rotated pairs of volunteers to be sedated with methohex—that was two fewer people to be at each other's throats.

Hardy hadn't said another word, though it was clear he was just waiting for someone to go after him. But no one seemed inclined to, much to Devon's surprise. In spite of the irritable sniping, it was like the storm had taken the fight out of everyone. Devon wondered how long that would last.

The snow had eased up a bit after the first night, but the wind had only gotten worse, and it was blowing the snow that had already fallen around so much it was nearly impossible to see more than a meter.

Tru was doing fine, though between the black eyes she'd developed and the neoderm on her cheeks and nose, she looked remarkably like a raccoon. Uly had even teased her about it, trying to get her out of the dark mood she was in, but she barely acknowledged him.

Danziger had been great about the whole thing once he finally came out of the methohex sedation. He'd done nothing but praise Tru for keeping her head and staying put. She was clearly as surprised as Devon, and for a short time had seemed to perk up, especially when Danziger had given Devon a bear hug in thanks for rescuing Tru. But the general pall of depression was still weighing on everyone, and Devon knew there was only one way to change that.

She waited as long as she could stand it to be certain the worst of the storm had passed, but she didn't want to waste a moment of daylight. They'd already lost three full days, and even if the Terriers had taken shelter during the storm, there was no telling how far they'd gotten with Melanie. So once the wind stopped blowing shortly after dark, Devon started making plans for setting out first thing the next morning.

"Okay, everybody, here's how this is going to go tomorrow," she said after Danziger had called everyone together that night. "We'll send out four teams, one for each of the vehicles. There will be one person who hasn't had methohex with each group, and they'll be the ones driving. We'll send three with each rail, two with the ATV. We have ten people who've had methohex now, so I'll send one or two of those with each vehicle. I want to leave four here, and we'll rotate those on sentry duty so we have somebody here ready to talk to the Terriers if they show up."

"Talk to them?" Morgan said, incredulous. "Is that before or after they kidnap somebody else?"

Devon ignored him. "If the same group of Terriers come back, the sentries should have enough warning to get everybody into the dome. Danziger says the bioplast should hold out against quite a few mag-pro blasts. Don't anybody try to be a hero, okay? You'll only have the four mag-pros here, since I'm sending two with each of the scout teams. Between those and the handguns, you should be fine, as long as you don't take any chances."

"So who goes and who stays?" Valerie said, glancing nervously over at Julia, who was staring intensely at Devon.

"I'd like to go," Hardy said quietly, though he didn't look even remotely hopeful.

Devon looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. "Alonzo and Nick will take the ATV. Helen, Bill and Inez will take one rail. Danziger, you'll take one with Valerie and Sergei. Rick and I will take the last rail—"

She broke off as Julia stepped towards her, her blue eyes looking as dangerous as the storm clouds had three days earlier. Devon held up her hand. "Easy, Julia, you're with me."

Julia looked surprised.

"Yale, you'll have to look after Rob while we're gone. Nobody goes more than a half-day's ride out, got it? I want everyone safely back in camp before dark tomorrow. If we aren't able to make contact with the Terriers this time, I'll consider sending out longer patrols, but I don't want to take any chances if this is just a lull in the storm." She looked around at the group. "Understand this: I am not giving up on finding Melanie. We'll get her back, okay?"

It was hard to get a feeling for the reaction to that. There were some hopeful looks, Tosh predictably among them, but most still looked bleak. Julia's expression was unreadable.

"Each team should take a hand scanner," Julia said. "Scan for edible vegetation as you go. We still need to find something to supplement the synthesizers. Try to find some more of those tubers Artie and Inez found."

Devon nodded, then turned to Bess. "You got some training from Melanie on the comm system, right?"

Bess looked surprised. "Well, yes, a little," she said uncertainly. "But—"

"Good," Devon said. "You'll coordinate among the teams. If anybody makes contact with the friendly Terriers, I want you to call back the rest of the teams. We'll let the Terriers do our searching for us, if they're willing. They know their planet, and its weather, and they're used to living in this climate. And hopefully they'll know how to find the other Terriers."

"And if they aren't willing?" Helen said.

Devon looked grim. "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it," she said. "But I want to talk it through before we make any decisions, so whatever the Terriers say, we come back here once we talk to them, got it?"

"They'll be willing," Alonzo said resolutely. "They owe us."

"What if you run into the…other Terriers?" Toshiko asked.

"We run like hell," Devon said tersely. She looked around at the group. "Get some sleep, all right? Tomorrow's going to be a long day for all of us."

Danziger took her arm and pulled her over towards the door. "Are you sure about taking Julia with you?" he said quietly.

"No," Devon said, glancing at Julia as she retreated once again to the med tent. "But I have to give her this, John. She'll tear herself apart if she doesn't get to go. And I have to try to fix things between us. I can't go on like this."

Danziger sighed. "Yeah. Just promise me you'll be careful? Don't let her guilt you into doing anything stupid."

"That's why I'm taking Rick," Devon said. "He'll keep us both safe."


	11. Chapter 11

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 11

* * *

_A/N: This chapter owes a fairly significant debt to the Earth 2 fanfic "Winter" by CotS. Check it out—it's pretty fun. __I know, Chapter 10 was painful. I'm putting these characters, and you, through hell, and I really appreciate your sticking with it. This one's rough in a little different way, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Two more chapters after this, both of which I plan to post tonight. And I swore I wouldn't do it, but I can't help it: review, plz?_

* * *

"I still don't like this," Sergei said for the third time since they started.

"Really?" Valerie said dryly. "You seemed so enthusiastic when we started."

"Come on," Sergei persisted, "what are the Terriers are going to do, just walk up and say, 'Hey, here's your girl'?"

"Would you rather we wander all over hell and gone looking for her ourselves?" Danziger said.

There was a loud roar somewhere off to the west, and it echoed through the forested hills.

"What the hell was that?" Sergei said, his eyes wide.

"Okay, I vote for not wandering all over hell and gone," Valerie said. "Let's find the Terriers, get them to do it for us, and go home before tall, dark and ugly comes for dinner."

Danziger glanced back at Valerie, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. _I sure as hell hope none of our people run into whatever made that sound._

Danziger slapped at his gear. "Hey, everybody, we just heard something," he said, but there wasn't the usual hum of an open channel, just static. "Anybody? Adair? Solace? Do you read?"

No response.

Danziger switched to an individual channel and tried to raise Bess. "C'mon, Bess, talk to me," he said. For an instant he thought he heard her, but then she was swallowed up in static again.

"What is it?" Sergei said.

Danziger frowned. "We've lost signal again. Head for high ground," he said, pointing up the ridge to the west. "We need to warn everybody about that roar."

_Yeah_, Valerie thought nervously. _Whatever it was, it sounded big. And Julia and Devon are over there._

* * *

"What do you think?" Devon said, standing at the top of a ravine, the mag-pro slung over her shoulder. "It doesn't look like we can go much farther."

They'd been climbing up into the foothills directly south of the camp for the better part of four hours. Devon had been hoping for a chance to talk to Julia, but the only time she'd said anything was when Rick had suggested they turn back about a kilometer earlier. Julia had insisted they continue, and Devon was fairly certain that she'd have gone on by herself if they'd tried to turn back. Between that and the wounded look Julia had given her when she hesitated, Devon finally agreed to go on.

Devon knew it was stupid to let her guilt over Melanie drive her like this, but she had come to rely on Julia's solid support over the previous weeks, and the hurt silence between them was almost as painful as Melanie's absence.

But now it looked like they were going to have to turn back after all. The open area along the edge of the ravine had been steadily narrowing, the forest getting thicker the higher they climbed. They'd finally reached a point where Rick had been uncomfortable about trying to turn the rail around if they went much farther.

"We could continue on foot," Julia said, but it was clear she expected Devon to veto the idea, and she was looking for an argument.

Devon hesitated, looking up at the sun. It was well past midday, and though they'd make better time heading back, she was still nervous about going any farther.

"It can't be that much farther to the top of this ridge," Julia persisted, gesturing to the south. "We could get an idea of what's on the other side, which would give us some idea of what we should do tomorrow."

"Julia, it could be several kilometers," Rick said. "It's too—"

"We'll go on another two k," Devon said.

Rick looked at her uneasily for a moment, then gave in. "Let me grab my gear out of the rail," he said, resigned.

Julia grabbed her med kit out of the back seat. She pulled out the hand scanner, then slung the pack on her back and headed back to Devon.

"Hey, what do you think?" Rick called from the rail, rooting around in the box behind the back seat. "Should I bring the biocord, too?"

Julia knelt at the side of the ravine to scan some vegetation while she waited for Rick. _Still nothing_, she thought, frustrated, studying the scans. _There has to be __something__ edible in these hills!_

"No, don't bother," Devon called to Rick. "Why don't you park the rail in that patch of sun? Less chance we'll run out of charge on the way back that way."

Rick nodded, got into the rail and started a careful series of three-point turns to turn the rail.

Julia stood up, tucking the scanner into her jacket, then hugged her arms to herself. It was really getting cold, even in the sun. She knew it was risky going forward on foot, and she also knew exactly why Devon had agreed to it so easily.

"Julia?" Devon said hesitantly from behind her, and Julia turned, trying to decide if she was ready to listen.

And then she suddenly became aware of movement behind Devon.

"Jesus!" Rick shouted from the rail. "Devon! Look ou—"

Devon started to turn, but even before she got around, the enormous creature that had somehow snuck up behind her had swung at her with a massive paw. She went flying headfirst into Julia.

Devon tumbled limply over Julia and then right over the edge, but Julia almost managed to stop herself. She skidded on her back, flailing her arms to try to grab something. But Rick watched in horror as the bit of grassy vegetation she managed to latch onto as she fell over the edge pulled right out of the ground, and she disappeared after Devon.

Rick hesitated, looking back over his shoulder at the creature as it turned towards him. He pulled out his handgun and fired at it, and the creature reared back, roaring. On its hind legs, it was easily four meters tall.

Rick didn't have time to pull the mag-pro from the back seat, and the handgun was useless. He turned forward and floored the rail. _The only chance Devon and Julia have is if I lead it away from them, then lose it, get down to where I can get into the ravine and work my back up to them. And if I can't manage that..._ He slapped at his gear. "Bess! Take a reading on my coordinates!"

"Rick?...you?" Bess said over a hail of static. "What's—?" Her voice disappeared in the static and Rick groaned inwardly. _There's no way I'm going to get through to her up here_, he thought. _I have to get back to the ridge where we talked to her last._ But that was at least three kilometers away. He glanced back and immediately wished he hadn't. The creature was galloping after him. And it was gaining.

* * *

"Say again, Rick?" Bess said. "Rick?"

"What is it?" Toshiko said, coming into the dome from the med tent.

"I can't keep contact with anybody!" Bess said, flinging her gear down onto the mess table. "I just got something from Rick for a second, but he broke up again."

"Did he say why he was calling in?"

"I have no idea!" Bess said, her frustration boiling over. "I'm not Melanie! I don't know enough about the gear to do anything to fix it. For all I know, they're all being attacked by Terriers right now!"

"Calm down," Toshiko said gently. "I'm sure they're fine. Just keep trying to get through to them. I'll see if they can get anything from on top of the dome."

"But what if they really are in trouble?" Bess said. "Rick sounded weird—like he was breathing hard or something."

Toshiko put her hand on Bess's shoulder. "He's fine, they're all okay. They're just supposed to check in regularly, right? Maybe he's trying to climb to higher ground so he can get through."

Bess nodded, still looking distressed, then started trying to contact Rick again.

Toshiko headed for the door of the dome, hoping that her words to Bess had been more than just wishful thinking. _The last thing we need is to lose anybody else_, she thought, and then felt awful for thinking of Melanie as lost.

* * *

Alonzo sighed as they crested another hill, only to find another series of hills rolling off in front of them to the south.

"What do you think?" Nick said, looking back up at him from the ATV driver's seat.

Alonzo glanced up at the sky where the sun was starting to dip towards the west. He shook his head. "We'd better head back," he said reluctantly. "By the time we get back out of these hills, the sun'll be almost down, and we can't risk running out of juice."

Nick nodded reluctantly and started to turn the ATV around. "Maybe tomorrow we should try heading east a little more before we go south," he said.

"Maybe," Alonzo said. He winced as they hit a rock. His leg was aching again, probably because he wasn't used to standing this long. He wished Devon had agreed to let him drive part of the time, but she'd insisted that nobody who'd had methohex was driving at all. _She's probably right_, he thought. _At least this way I can focus on trying to contact the Terriers instead of worrying about dodging all these damned trees._

He sent out another mental call for help, but he had no idea if it was working. For all he knew, the Terriers could only pick up their emotions at close range. _Or maybe they're not going to talk to us_, he thought, but he pushed that thought aside. _They'll talk to us. We just have to find them._

He felt a surprising jolt of amusement, and whipped his head around to find a Terrier looking down at him from a hilltop to the east.

"Hold up, Nick!" he shouted, reaching through the roll cage to swat his shoulder.

"What is it?" Nick said, hitting the brake.

"We've got a live one!" Alonzo said, waving wildly at the Terrier as it galloped down the hill towards them and disappeared into the trees.

"Where?" Nick said, looking toward where Alonzo was waving.

Alonzo ignored him, hopping down from the ATV and trotting towards the line of trees along the side of the ridge they were on. The Terrier appeared, galloping toward him and coming to a halt a few meters away. It bowed on its forelegs.

"Man, am I glad to see you, Jupiter!" Alonzo said, grinning. He couldn't have said why he knew it was Jupiter—they still all looked vaguely the same to him, but the feel of this Terrier's mind was familiar. And there was no mistaking the feeling of warm recognition it gave him. "You look good. How's the shoulder?"

The Terrier rotated its arm to demonstrate its functionality. Alonzo got a strong sense of gratitude.

"Hey, it was the least we could do," Alonzo said. "We owed you. And now I think we're going to owe you another, at least if you're willing to help us out."

It sent him a questioning sensation.

"One of our people was taken by another group of…of your people," Alonzo said, trying to keep the image of a yappy dog out of his mind. Apparently it didn't work, because he got a sense of amused indignation from the Terrier. "Sorry, pal," he said sheepishly. "Long story. Look, can you help us find her?" He pictured Melanie's grinning face in his mind, and couldn't help the pang of loss that colored it.

The Terrier stepped forward and patted his shoulder in a remarkably human gesture. There was another questioning sensation, and Alonzo was starting to get the hang of this form of communication. "About three days ago," he said, pointing at the sun and holding up three fingers. "We think they headed south," he added, pointing.

At that, the Terrier seemed uneasy, glancing off to the south.

"What is it?" Nick said, noticing Alonzo's worried expression.

"I don't know," Alonzo said, sending a questioning thought towards the Terrier.

The Terrier look back at him, and he felt a wave of reassurance, coupled with regret. But there was another sensation underneath it—anger mixed with embarrassment.

"Hey, we know it wasn't you," Alonzo said, holding up his hands placatingly. "We just want to find her. Can you help?"

That brought a strong affirmation, and Alonzo let out a sigh of relief.

"I take it he's gonna help," Nick said, smiling.

"Yeah," Alonzo said, taking the Terrier's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. It looked surprised, but it shook his hand back, holding his hand very gently.

All at once, Alonzo felt an overwhelming wave of fear, followed by a bizarre falling sensation. He swayed, then felt the Terrier grab his shoulders.

"Alonzo?" Nick said, putting his hand on Alonzo's back to steady him. "What is it?"

"I—I don't know," Alonzo said, but even as he said it, he realized what it was. He was getting a relay from the Terrier. And he knew exactly who it was from. He swallowed hard, fighting back his own fear. He looked questioningly at the Terrier, who had turned to the west. It turned back to him, and he felt its uncertainty before it bowed to him, then turned and galloped off down the hill to the west.

"Come on," he said grimly, turning quickly to climb back into the ATV driver's seat. "Julia's in trouble again."

* * *

Tumbling down the side of the ravine in a terrifying whirl, Julia had the wild thought, _Melanie would be so angry with me. Here I am falling off another cliff_. She felt a sharp pain in her left shin, and she must have yelped, because she heard it echo down the ravine. Then she hit something surprisingly soft, though she hit it hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of her.

She turned her head, taking whooping gasps as she lay on her side, and looked back up at the top of the ravine. The giant creature was pacing back and forth at the edge, looking down at her. It let out a deafening roar, and she braced herself for death, afraid it would just launch itself after her, but it turned and galloped off to the north.

"D-Devon?" she said after a few more heaving breaths, turning to check on the woman who had broken her fall. "Can you hear me?"

There was a faint moan. Julia ripped her gloves off, pulled the med kit off her back, grabbed her diaglove and ran it over her. _Three bruised ribs, one cracked—probably from breaking my fall—and…oh, god, multiple lacerations to the back_. She very carefully lifted her to look at her back. There was blood in the snow, but the cold seemed to have slowed the blood loss, and as awful as the gashes were, they weren't life-threatening on their own.

She looked back up at the top of the ravine. There was no way in hell she'd be able to drag Devon up there. She'd be lucky if she could move her at all. "Devon," she said, "please, you have to wake up. I need your help."

There was no response. She tapped her gear. "Rick?" she said. "Can you hear me?" Nothing. _Oh, no_, she thought, closing her eyes and praying silently that he'd simply lost his gear somehow. _But if that isn't it, there's nothing you can do to help him. You have to focus on Devon now._ "Bess? Danziger? Anybody?"

All she got was the static they'd been getting off and on ever since they'd started up the ravine. "I wouldn't go too far," Bess had said the first time it happened. "If something goes wrong, there's no telling whether your signal will get through." _We should have taken your advice_, Julia thought with another wave of guilt.

There was another roar, and Julia whirled to look back up at the edge above her. The creature was back, pacing back and forth, looking like it was considering coming down. Julia pulled her handgun from pocket, but hesitated, wondering what good it would do. But then it turned and galloped up the ridge to the south.

Julia let out the breath she'd been holding and turned back to Devon. "Devon?" she said one more time, but she was down for the count. "Hell," she breathed. _First priority, get her away from here. That monster could find its way down into the ravine, and we __can't __be here when it does._

She ripped open the main compartment of the med kit, pulled out the emergency blanket and unfolded it, and carefully maneuvered Devon onto it. She closed the med kit, got it back on her back, and pulled on her gloves. She immediately felt better, the warmth from the gloves thawing her freezing fingers, but she was still shivering.

_It's too cold_, she thought, knowing the longer they were out there without shelter, the more rapidly their chances of survival would drop, especially for Devon. _I have to find shelter soon, and someplace that…thing can't get to us. _She leaned over, lifted Devon from under her arms and started to drag her back toward the camp.

She'd barely made it three steps when she stepped on something that rolled under her foot. She nearly dropped Devon, staggering, but managed to stay upright. She set Devon down carefully, turned, and nearly cried in relief. It was Devon's mag-pro.

Julia picked it up, laid it gently across Devon's lap, picked her up, and set off again. _At least that much went right_, she thought, but it was hard not to wonder whether even the mag-pro would really be much use against a creature that size.

* * *

Rick came to with a searing pain in his left side. He blinked back tears, looking around to try to figure out what had happened. The rail was lying on its side in the middle of a dense stand of trees. He felt gingerly at his side, and his fingers were covered in blood when he looked at them. He tried to lift himself to ease the pain somehow, but as he did, he felt something stabbing into his side shift and nearly passed out again.

_Wonderful_, he thought. _But at least I'm still alive._ He looked around, wondering where the creature that had attacked them had gone, but he couldn't hear or see anything. He reached up to tap his gear, but it wasn't there, just a bloody cut on the side of his head where it must have gouged him when he'd hit something. He scanned the area around him, but there was no sign of it. But there was no sign of the creature, either. It must have knocked the rail into the trees and then been unable to get to him in the confined space. _Well, I guess alive and without communication is better than dead with it._

He tried to shift his legs so he could get up, and fell back, gasping at the pain. _Come on_, he told himself. _You can do it._ He tried again, and managed to raise himself enough to get his knees underneath him. He swallowed hard, leaning against the driver's seat of the rail, trying desperately not to throw up, then braced his hand against the rail's steering wheel, and staggered to his feet.

It was a miracle he was still alive. The rail must have crashed through a half a dozen trees before it finally came to a stop on its side in between two large ones. And it must have been that resting point that really saved his life. The back tires of the rail were nearly shredded, and Rick could imagine the creature clawing at them, trying to reach him.

Rick took a shaky breath, wincing, and looked down at his side. There was a large splinter of wood sticking out of him. He thought briefly about trying to pull it out, but realized he might make matters worse. _Not to mention how much it would hurt_, he thought, fighting back a wave of nausea at the thought.

He studied the rail, trying to figure out of there was a way to get it out. There was clearly no way he was going to be able to shove it out of the cleft between the two trees. _But maybe I can cut the downhill tree_, he thought. Most of the weight of the rail seemed to be on that one, so the rail might tip itself upright if he got rid of that tree. He rummaged in his pocket and found the laser knife.

He turned on the knife and started cutting at the base of the tree as fast as he could, smoke billowing up around him, praying that Devon and Julia were still alive, and then forced himself to stay positive. _They're both still alive_, he told himself. _And the only way they'll stay that way is if I make it back to camp and get help._

* * *

"Hey, Bess!" Danziger said over the gear for the third time in the last forty-five minutes. "Do you read?"

"Danziger!" Bess said. "Thank god! Are you on your way back?"

"Yeah, about an hour away," Danziger said, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Rick called in for a second over an hour ago," Bess said, "and he sounded weird. I couldn't hear much of what he said, and now his gear is dead, and I can't get a fix on any of them because the signal's bouncing everywhere and I don't know what to do!"

"Slow down," Danziger said, exchanging a glance with Sergei. "Do you know where they were the last time you had a fix?"

"Hang on," Bess said. "Um, about ten k due west of you."

Danziger swore softly. There was nothing but more sharp ridges to the west, which was why they'd chosen the routes they had. He'd have to go almost all the way back to the camp before he could swing back south again. "What about the other teams?"

"They're both on their way back, but they aren't as close as you are," Bess said. "Alonzo said he talked to a Terrier, and then he got some sort of echo of Julia through the Terrier. He said she was scared, and she might have been falling."

Danziger groaned inwardly. _Leave it to Julia to find something to fall off._ "And you can't get a fix on Devon or Julia?"

"No," Bess said plaintively. "I've tried everything I can think of, and Morgan's tried some stuff, too, but none of it's working."

"Okay," Danziger said. "We'll head for their route as fast as we can. Keep trying to raise them. It may be that they're just in a bad signal area like we were."

"What if they aren't?" Bess said.

"We'll find them, Bess," Danziger said. "Just keep trying." He closed the channel. "Floor it, Sergei."

"You got it, boss," he said.

* * *

_This is never going to work_, Julia thought. Her back was protesting against the abuse, her leg was throbbing, and she'd lost track of how long she'd been pulling Devon. The sun was almost to the treeline above her, which meant they couldn't have much more than another hour of daylight left. And there was no sign of any kind of cover at all, let alone something that would offer protection from that enormous predator.

At least she didn't seem to be leaving a blood trail with the blanket underneath Devon. But she had no idea how sensitive the creature's olfactory organ might be. For all she knew, it could be as effective as an Old Earth shark's sense for blood.

_Don't borrow trouble_, she told herself. _It could just as easily have bad allergies, too. Just keep moving._

She shifted her grip on Devon, ignoring her back, and took another careful step backwards, grateful that the frozen river made it easy to slide Devon. She wasn't sure she could have managed to get her this far if she'd had to drag her through the snow.

"Ow," Devon said faintly.

"Devon?" Julia said, kneeling and resting Devon's back carefully against her legs. She leaned over her, brushing snow off her face. "Can you hear me?"

"Julia?" she said, and she opened her eyes slightly.

"Yes," Julia said, her voice full of relief.

"It's really cold," she said thickly.

"I know. Look, can you—?"

"Why does my back hurt?" she said, her voice tight.

"Hang on," she said, pulling the med kit off her back. She pulled off her gloves, grabbed the hypospray and dosed her with painblock. "Better?"

Devon sighed. "Yeah. What hit me?" she said, frowning.

Julia shrugged. "Something huge. All I really saw was big paws, with bigger claws, judging from what it did to your back."

"Wait—what about Rick?"

Julia shook her head, looking worried. "I tried to raise him on gear, but he didn't answer, and I can't raise the camp either."

"And where'd that thing go?"

"It had a little trouble following us down the side of the ravine, otherwise…" She trailed off meaningfully. "I think down here we're safe, at least for now."

Devon frowned, looking up at the side of the ravine. "We came down that?"

Julia nodded, feeling just as amazed they'd survived as Devon sounded. "We got off lucky. I seem to have a gift for jumping off cliffs."

Devon chuckled, and winced. "I assume you must be okay if you're dragging me down the mountain."

"More or less," Julia said. _Definitely less_, she thought, but kept that thought to herself. Despite her effort to ignore the pain in her leg, whatever she'd done to it was hurting a lot. _It's not life-threatening, and you can put weight on it_, she told herself. _You can deal with it when you're someplace safe._

But her greater worry was the temperature. It was dropping fast, and she was already exhausted from the strain of the last few days. Just thinking about the cold set off a hard round of shivering. There was no telling how long Devon could last out here in the open with injuries like she had.

"Help me up," Devon said.

"Are you sure?" Julia said, concerned. "Your back—"

"Is fine," Devon insisted, though her voice told a different story. "But my rear end is freezing to this river, and we need to move, right? And I can tell your more or less is more less than more." She blinked, confused. "Was that right?"

Julia smiled faintly. "Actually, yes."

"That's what I thought," Devon said, looking up at her sharply. "How bad is it?"

"I didn't mean about me," Julia protested. "I just meant your grammar. I'm fine."

"Mmm-hmm," Devon said dubiously. "Help me up."

Julia supported her as she sat up, trying not to touch the gashes. Devon swayed a little as she got to her knees, and Julia took her arm to steady her. She staggered to her feet, using the mag-pro to help push herself up, and smiled tightly at Julia. "See?" she said. "Just fine."

Julia shook her head at Devon, giving her a doubtful look. She studied her for a moment to be sure she wasn't going to keel over, then packed up the emergency blanket with the rest of the med kit, threw the pack on her back and shoved her gloves back on.

She turned back to Devon. "I was following the river back toward the camp," she said. "I figure the closer we are, the sooner help will find us." She started to reach to help Devon, and froze when she heard a roar from somewhere behind them. It echoed along the ravine.

"Oh, hell," Devon breathed. "Come on!" She set off at what she'd intended to be a run, but ended up being an unsteady stagger.

Julia grabbed Devon's right arm, threw it over her shoulder, ignoring Devon's yelp at the sudden movement. She reached around the taller woman with her left arm, and helped her downstream.

* * *

"Damn," Danziger said, glancing up at the fading sun as they finally got close to the route that Devon had planned to take.

"Yeah," Sergei said. "How far up do you think they got?"

"How far did we get?" Valerie said. "Add another hour to it at least."

"Bess?" Danziger said, opening a channel. "Anything else from Rick or Devon?"

"N…yet, b…heard…Helen and…most back…"

"Hell," Danziger breathed. "Looks like the signal's getting bad again," he said aloud. "Listen, we'll try to check in every fifteen minutes. Hopefully, you'll at least get a blip in the static from us so you'll know we're okay."

"Okay…careful…right?"

"Always, sweetheart," Danziger said. He closed the channel and turned to look at Sergei. "Okay, buddy, let's ride to the res—"

"Hold up!" Valerie said. Danziger turned to look at her. She was turned halfway around in the back seat, looking up the ravine to the south.

And there was the other rail, barreling down the side of the ravine at a breakneck pace. Danziger held his breath as Rick nearly sent the rail over the edge as he dodged around a tree.

He swatted his gear. "Rick, slow down! We're right in front of you!"

But Rick didn't let up speed until he nearly skidded into them, and the minute he stopped, Danziger could see that he didn't have his gear.

"God, am I glad to see you!" Rick said. He was leaning over the rail's steering wheel, one hand wrapped around his side, and there was blood all over his hand.

"What the hell happened?" Sergei said as Valerie jumped out of the rail and ran over to Rick.

"A big animal hit us," Rick said, and he looked dangerously pale. "Hit Devon, knocked her into Julia, and they both went over the edge." He took a ragged breath, wincing. "It came after me…" he said and gestured back at the rear wheels of the rail.

"Jesus," Sergei said, climbing out of their rail and walking around to look at the tattered remnants of the tires. "What the hell hit you, a buzz saw?"

"Yeah, buzz saw…with teeth…" Rick said faintly, and he started to sag to one side. Valerie caught him and held him up.

"Danziger, grab the med kit," Valerie said.

Danziger brought it over and knelt so he could look into Rick's eyes. "Where are they?" he asked.

Rick blinked vaguely at him, then took a ragged breath. "I don't know for sure," he said. "A few klicks up at least. But John, they…" He trailed off, wincing. "It was a long way down," he breathed. "And the way that thing hit Devon…"

Sergei glanced back at the shredded tires and went almost as white as Rick.

"Valerie, you get Rick back to the camp," Danziger said, but before he could continue, Rick had grabbed his arm.

"No," he said. "It's too big. One mag-pro isn't going to cut it."

Danziger hesitated. By the time they got back to the camp, it'd be nearly dark. There was no way they'd make it back this far on the charge they had. They'd have to go on foot, in the dark, in freezing temperatures.

"Danziger," Valerie said, looking dismayed, "I want to go after them, too. But I don't know if Rick's rail is gonna make it back as it is. The charge is almost gone. Running on those wheels must have drained it. And we have to get him back. He needs more help than I can give him out here."

Danziger swore, then took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay…we go back," he said, every word tearing a hole in his gut.

He looked back up the ravine as Valerie and Sergei helped move Rick into the passenger seat. _You'd better be okay, Adair_, he thought.

* * *

"This isn't going to work," Devon said, breathing hard.

_That's an understatement_, Julia thought. She'd been supporting more and more of Devon's weight as they ran, and their pace had gotten proportionally slower. She glanced back over her shoulder, half-expecting the creature to be running toward them. It wasn't, but she knew it was coming. She could almost feel it.

"You need to leave me," Devon said, breathing raggedly.

"No," Julia said, breathing almost as hard.

"Julia, I mean it," she said. "That thing—"

"Is not going to kill either one of us if I have anything to say about it," Julia said. "So shut up. This is my call."

Devon bit back the sharp reply she started to make. "Then we need to look for cover," she said out loud.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Julia said, frustrated.

"Over there," Devon said, gesturing vaguely toward the far side of the ravine with the mag-pro in her left hand. "Those rocks."

"It's not enough," Julia said. "We need something more sheltered. It's not just that thing we have to worry about. The cold—" But Devon was moving again, and she helped her along.

"I'm more worried about that thing right—ha!" Devon said as they came around the side of one large boulder. "Who's the best navigator on the planet?" There was a cleft in the side of the ravine, and as they got closer, it turned out to be a cave.

Another roar came from behind them, much closer, and Julia forced herself not to look back, to keep her eyes on where they were headed so she didn't trip and fall. They made it to the cave, which had a sort of dogleg at the front, reassuringly narrow. Julia squeezed Devon past it, barely able to make it through side-by-side. Once they were out of sight of the ravine, Julia leaned Devon against the cave wall. She grabbed the flashlight out of the med kit and flipped it on.

Devon raised the mag-pro as Julia scanned the flashlight around the interior of the cave. _It'd be just our luck to find a hexadent in here_, Devon thought, struggling to keep the barrel of the mag-pro elevated, but the cave was empty. It had definitely been used as a den for something, though—Devon wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell, and there was what looked like a nest of piled twigs and leaves off to one side.

Julia switched off the flashlight and listened for the creature. She held her breath, and after a long moment there was a crashing sound somewhere outside, followed by a snuffling noise. _The entrance __has__ to be too small for that thing to get in here_, Julia thought nervously, and was rewarded with another roar, painfully loud in the confines of the cave. There was a scratching noise, and then the terrifying sight of a shadowy paw reaching into the cave, but then the paw disappeared. The creature roared in frustration.

_Go away_, Julia thought, enormously relieved. _You can't eat us, so go find something else to eat, like a Council agent_. After several very long minutes, there was another roar, followed by another, and it was clearly moving off.

Julia released the breath she'd been holding. She turned the flashlight on again and looked at their refuge. There wasn't much to it, just a small space, maybe three meters deep and only a couple of meters wide, with a jumble of loose rocks at the back. _That's good_, she thought. _At least we won't have to worry about something sneaking up on us from behind._ She panned the flashlight up, and saw that the cave was really just the bottom of a jagged fissure in the rock. She switched off the flashlight and could actually see a faint line of darkening blue sky far above her. _And we have a natural chimney. So we can have a fire. Thank god._

She turned back to Devon, who had slid down the wall to a crouch.

Devon tapped her gear. "Bess, are you there?" Devon sounded as wrung out as Julia felt, and she knew she'd need to get a look at her injuries soon.

There was a sound of static over the gear, with faint hints of someone speaking, but not enough to get any idea of what they were saying.

"Say again?" Devon said, but there was no improvement. "Oh, that's just great. If this were a VR, I'd be yelling at the scriptwriter right now for being too predictable."

"I'm going to try it closer to the entrance," Julia said.

"Be careful," Devon said tiredly.

She nodded, and flipped off the flashlight again. She tapped her gear as she got closer to where the dogleg turned to open out onto the ravine, but all she got was more static. She headed back to Devon. "No go," she said, flipping on the flashlight so she could see her. "I think we're on our own."

"Prob'ly just as well," Devon said, and her words were starting to slur. "I'd hate to give that thing more appetizers."

Julia nodded, kneeling down and taking off the med kit. _First priority, heat, then treat her injuries_, she thought. She pulled out the emergency blanket and spread it out on the cave floor. "Here," she said. "Lie face down on this. Can you get your jacket off?"

Devon groaned at the thought. "Do I have to?"

Julia nodded reluctantly. "If you don't, I'll have to cut through it to get to your injuries, and I think you're going to want it at least close to intact once it really starts to get cold."

Devon shook her head tiredly. "And here I thought it was…already starting to get cold. Okay, give me a hand."

Between them they were able to get the jacket off, though it had clearly been painful. Devon's face was covered with a sheen of sweat by the time they were done. Julia laid the jacket down on the emergency blanket. "Lie down," she said, and draped the coat back over her for the moment.

Julia turned to the nest of twigs and leaves and scooped it into a deep pile, then used the laser scalpel from her diaglove to start it on fire. It flamed up gratifyingly, but she could tell it wouldn't last long. But at least it was warming the cave a little bit.

She pulled out the diaglove and scanned Devon again. She hadn't lost enough blood for it to be really dangerous, but it was enough to make circulation a concern. The cuts were jagged, and they'd take some effort to close, but it was doable even with the limited supplies she had.

It took almost half an hour to get the cuts dressed to her satisfaction, and by then, the little fire had burned down to embers, and the brief heat it had provided was already giving way to icy cold again. Julia could feel the cold was starting to make her sluggish. Devon had stopped talking minutes earlier, and Julia suddenly noticed she'd stopped shivering.

"Devon, I need you to sit up," Julia said. She didn't respond. "Devon!" Julia leaned down to look at her. Her eyes had closed. "Damn it, Devon, you have to wake up!" Julia's heart started to pound. She lifted Devon, shifting her so her back was against the rock wall.

For a moment, Devon's eyes fluttered, but then they slid shut again. "No!" Julia shouted, lifting Devon's head with one hand to look at her eyes. "Devon! Wake up! I am not going to lose you, too! Wake up!"

Devon forced her eyes open, struggling to focus on Julia. "'m up," she said. "Sorry."

Julia sighed in relief. "It's okay. But you can't go to sleep, all right? I need you to stay awake."

"Got it," Devon said, and she seemed a little more focused. "Wait—what did you say a minute ago?"

"I said wake up a lot," Julia said, hoping she'd let it go. _Thank god there aren't any Terriers nearby. I'm probably broadcasting emotions like crazy_. She grabbed Devon's coat and started to help her into it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Devon said almost inaudibly, trying to put her arms into the sleeves, but Julia shook her head.

"Don't. Better to keep your core warm. And I don't want to risk damaging the repairs I made to your back." She zipped the lower portion of the jacket up as far as she could with Devon's arms held tight against her body.

"I miss her, too, you know," Devon said quietly.

At that moment, Julia wished she could hold onto her anger. For a long time, it had burned like fire, but now she felt it draining away, and she just felt infinitely tired. "I know," she said. She could tell Devon wanted to say more, but she held her hand up. "Not now, Devon, please. When we're safe. I promise."

Devon sighed, wincing at the pain in her ribs, then nodded.

Julia picked up the emergency blanket, draped it over Devon's shoulders and used the self-connectors to hold it in place, then helped Devon lean carefully back against the rock wall.

Devon frowned, looking down at the emergency blanket. "Wha'bout you? Is there another blanket?"

"I'm good," Julia said, cursing inwardly as another round of shivers took hold. "I need to get you warm, and that means a fire."

"It's not so bad here," Devon said, her eyes drifting shut again.

"No!" Julia snapped. "Devon! Damn it, you promised!"

Her eyes shot open. "Sorry," she slurred, blinking. "Guess it's colder than I thought."

"I have to go find some firewood," Julia said. "Devon, listen to me. I need you to stay awake while I'm gone."

Devon frowned, and looked at her with something approaching alertness. "You can't go out there."

"I have to," she said. "It's the only way either of us will get through the night."

"But that thing is still out there," Devon protested.

"And it might kill me," Julia admitted, "but the cold definitely will if we don't get a fire going. I'll take my chances with the monster."

She pulled out the handful of chemical heat packs they had in the med kit and opened them. She tucked them into Devon's jacket, making sure they weren't directly against her skin. _It isn't much, but it might keep her going_, she thought. "I'll try to contact the camp to warn them about that thing. I won't be long," she promised, trying not to let her shivering show. "N-no sleeping, got it?"

Devon nodded vaguely.

"Devon, look at me!" Julia said, and Devon focused on her. "You have to stay awake. Uly needs you. We all do. Understand?"

"No sleeping," she said. "Got it. You be careful, Julia."

Julia looked hard at her, then grabbed a vial out of the med kit and dosed her.

"Wow!" Devon said, blinking in surprise. "What's in that?"

"A stimulant," Julia said. "It's the b-best I can do right now." _And it's a risk_, she thought, but it was the only way she could think of to keep Devon going till she could get some heat. She started dumping everything else out of the med kit to so she could use it to carry firewood with her hands free.

"Next best thing to coffee," Devon said, smiling weakly. "I'll be fine. Don't you go too far, okay? Mel would never let me hear the end of it if I let something happen to you."

"Don't worry," Julia said, trying to sound confident, but the thought of Melanie made her voice waver. "I'll be fine." She reached into her jacket and pulled out the handgun. "You take this, and I'll take the mag-pro with me. I'll be back in fifteen minutes, one way or the other."

She got up, grabbed the mag-pro and headed for the entrance. She decided to leave the flashlight with Devon, figuring she'd be back before it got too dark to see, and there'd be less chance of attracting the creature without it anyway.

The moons were already on the rise, even as the daylight was fading, and once her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she could see just fine. She waited carefully at the entrance for several seconds, listening and watching for any sign of the creature, but it was utterly silent in the ravine.

Julia felt like every step she took broadcast her location as the snow squeaked under her boots, but there was nothing she could do about it. There wasn't much in the way of firewood near her, and the only way she'd be able to get through to the camp would be to get to higher ground. _Hopefully, there will be plenty of wood up there._

She held the mag-pro ready and started climbing up past the jumble of rocks outside the cave. The ravine wasn't as steep on this side, and she was able to manage it without having to sling the mag-pro, which was a relief. She wasn't sure how good her aim would be with it, but it was reassuring just to have it in her hands.

She tapped her gear. "Bess?" she whispered. Still just static, though there was a weird echo in the static this time. "Devon? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Devon's voice came through fairly clearly, though there was a hiss of static around it.

"Okay, just checking to make sure you're still awake," Julia said. "Stay that way. Talk to me."

"No poetry this time," Devon said. "Not if I'm going to stay awake."

"Okay," Julia said, smiling a little at the memory. "You pick the topic."

"It's not your fault, you know," Devon said.

"What isn't? Poetry being boring?" Julia said, trying to keep her voice light. She looked up to see if there was someplace that looked promising to get a signal through. There was a rock outcropping above her that looked like it might be high enough.

"What happened to Melanie," Devon said.

"Devon, I told you, not n—" Julia began, but Devon cut her off.

"You said I could pick the topic, and I'm not taking the chance—" She stopped, but Julia knew what she was thinking. "Look, you want me talking, this is what we're talking about."

"Fine," Julia said tersely. She started climbing towards the rocks, slipping and scrambling as the side of the ravine got steeper, wincing every time she put weight on her left leg. _But at least this side isn't too steep to climb_, she thought. "I know it's not my fault."

"I don't believe you," Devon said. "Or maybe you do know it, but you're still blaming yourself, and not just for what happened to Melanie. You have to stop punishing yourself."

"I'm—" Julia began, then broke off as she hit a loose patch of dirt. Her foot slid, and she almost lost her balance.

"Julia?" Devon said. "Are you still there?"

"Yes," Julia said. "Sorry, it's…getting steep."

"Tell me," Devon said, "why do you think they were after you?"

Julia hadn't expected that question. "Because I defied them," she said after a moment. "They want to make an example of me."

"My, aren't we egotistical?" Devon said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Julia said sharply.

"I mean, do you really think the Council sent a boatload of Terriers all that way just to get back at you?" Devon said patiently. "They might be petty and vindictive, but they're also obsessed with the bottom line. Besides, who are you going to be an example for—a handful of Council agents?"

Julia frowned. "So what do you think they were after?"

"I've been thinking about that a lot," Devon said, and Julia could hear the weariness in her voice.

_She's probably been sleeping about as much as I have_, Julia thought, and felt the familiar pang of guilt.

"I think they need you for something," Devon continued. "So what do you have that they might need you for?"

Julia considered that as she scrambled up a steep section of the hillside. _It can't be because I'm a doctor_, she thought. _They have to have their own, probably several. And if the gasparanium coverup was the thing they were concerned about, they'd just have killed Melanie outright, not captured her. But there's nothing else special about me..._

"There's only one thing I can think of that would make you useful to them," Devon said finally. "Why did your mother work so hard to distance herself from you all those years?"

Julia froze. It made sense. "You think she's alive," Julia said.

"Yes," Devon said. "And I think she's in a position to do something to hurt the Council, so—"

"—so they want to use me against her," Julia finished, and she almost had to sit down. She forced herself to start climbing again. She didn't have time to stop and take all this in, no matter how overwhelming it was.

"The other good news is once they get Melanie, I don't think they're likely to hurt her," Devon continued. "They'll try to..." Devon's voice broke up in a hail of static.

"Devon?" Julia said.

"...still here," Devon said. "But you're br...up."

"I'm almost to the top," Julia said. "Just hang on. I'm going to try—"

Suddenly, she heard the creature roar again. It was somewhere upriver from them, but it was close. And if she could climb this side of the ravine, it could, too.

"How close...?" Devon said.

"Shh," Julia whispered, worried that it might find some way to squeeze into the cave. "Stay quiet."

It took her another five minutes to get to the rocks, by which time she really couldn't make out much of what Devon was saying, but a lot of it seemed to be her asking for updates on Julia's situation. _I should have told her thirty minutes, not fifteen, _she thought. _Now she's going to worry_. But there was nothing she could do about it now, and maybe the worry would help keep Devon awake.

"Bess?" she said after opening a channel. "Can you hear me?"

"…lia?" Bess's voice came intermittently over the gear. "…god! We've…you…right?"

"Bess, you're breaking up. Just listen. Devon and I are okay, but I don't know about Rick."

"…made…safe...ale's…him…are you?"

Julia sighed in relief. "Don't worry about us right now," she said. "We're in a cave, but the gear signal can't get through there. Don't try to send anyone tonight—it's too dangerous. It's too cold, and there's a really big creature out here."

As if on cue, there was a loud roar from below her. Julia knelt down, looking down into the ravine. The creature was almost directly below, really close to the cave entrance. It was looking up at her, and suddenly the fifty meters she had climbed didn't seem nearly far enough. It was even bigger than she'd thought looking up at it before, with gray-black fur that made it difficult to see in the twilight. _Which is why we didn't see it coming_, she thought.

"…the…was that?" Bess said, and even through the static, her fear came through.

"Big, big creature," Julia whispered, watching as it reared up on its hind legs, resting its forelegs on one of the boulders Julia and Devon had passed. A boulder which easily had to be two meters high. "Claws and teeth and really big. Be careful. We're safe. We're safe till tomorrow." _I hope._ "We'll be right here—these coordinates will get you close enough. Did you get that?"

"Got…coor…scary mon…come in…ning…guns," Bess said.

"I really hope you just said you're coming in the morning with guns," Julia said quietly.

"..es! Yes!…"

_Thank god_, Julia thought. "I have to go," she said. She closed the channel and tried to figure out how on earth she was going to keep up her end of the bargain she'd just made. _Somehow I have to get back to the cave, and bring firewood when I do, without that thing turning me into dinner. How do I get myself into these situations?_

* * *

"Scary monster?" Alonzo said, staring aghast at Bess. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know, Alonzo," Bess said. "The signal was a mess. I heard this loud noise that sounded like something roaring, and Julia said 'big' something."

"But she's with Devon?" Danziger said.

"It sounded like it. She said 'we' several times, and something about being safe."

"With a scary monster roaring at her?" Alonzo said.

"I'm not sure, but I think they might have been in a cave. Or they found a cave and that's where they were going to be in the morning. I don't know!" Bess said as Alonzo looked like he was about to shake her.

"Leave her alone," Morgan said angrily. "She's doing the best she can."

The back door to the dome opened, and Yale came in.

"How's Rick?" Bess said.

"He will be fine," Yale said. "The injury to his side was deep, but it didn't damage any of his internal organs. He'll be in pain for several days, but he will heal quickly."

"Did he say anything more about what happened?" Danziger said.

Yale shook his head. "But judging from the size of the gashes, I believe we are dealing with something large."

Bess nodded. "That's what Julia—" she said.

"You heard from her?" Yale said. "Is Devon all right?"

Bess told her what she'd just told the others. "She was pretty emphatic that they were safe till morning. She seemed really worried that we'd run into whatever it was that attacked them. She said it was big, with claws and teeth."

"Yeah, we got that," Alonzo said sarcastically. "A lot of good it's doing us. We need to know where they are, if they're okay—"

"That's enough, 'Zo," Danziger said. "It's not her fault."

Alonzo took a deep breath. "Sorry, Bess," he said. "It's just—she does this just to drive me crazy, you know?"

"Of course she does," Danziger said dryly. "And I'm betting this is Adair's version of payback."

Bess smiled a watery smile at them. "Well, here's hoping you both get to give them hell for it soon. What about that Terrier you talked to? Maybe he can find them."

Alonzo looked dubiously toward the door of the dome. "I don't know," he said quietly. "The last I heard from him, he wasn't getting anything from Julia anymore."

* * *

Julia worked her way back from the edge and waited for several seconds, listening and hoping the creature would either give up or give her some clue as to which side of the rocks she should try to go down.

There was a faint sound somewhere off to the side she'd originally come up. _I hope that means it picked up my scent and is coming up that way_, she thought, turning to look at the other way down. _If so, this way ought to be clear. I hope._ She hesitated. Somehow it looked a lot steeper than the side she'd come up. _How am I going to get down that carrying a load of wood?_

_Very carefully_, she told herself resolutely. _And at least once you get down there you have some cover_. There had been more boulders on that side of the cave entrance, so she might be able to sneak fairly close to the entrance without being seen.

There was a fallen tree about five meters long off to her left, and she stopped to pick up several of the larger branches and stuff them into the med kit, then had a thought. She grabbed the top end of the fallen tree and it shifted, then rolled slightly.

She took off the med-kit bag, filled the remaining spaces full of smaller branches and kindling, then set it on the uphill side of the tree. She slung the mag-pro over her shoulder, then grabbed the top of the tree again and started dragging it towards the edge of the rock face. She stopped often to rest and to listen for the creature.

_What should I call it?_ she thought to keep herself from dwelling on what Devon had told her as she pulled at the heavy tree. She shivered hard, even though the exertion of the climb should have been enough to raise her core temperature. _It doesn't really look like a bear. The eyes are too big and the face is too flat._ The face actually looked more like a furry bulldog than anything, but she couldn't call it a bulldog.

She got the top end of the tree onto the rocks themselves, then went back to drag the bottom end forward. Once it was in place, she started shoving it towards the edge. It was slow work, but after several minutes of concerted effort, she was able to tip the fat end over the edge, and the whole tree slid off. She leaned over the edge in time to hear it crash to the ground, a sound followed almost instantly by an outraged roar.

Julia shook her head in disappointment as she looked over the edge—she'd almost nailed the creature with the tree, which would have been a spectacular bonus. It was pawing at the remnants of the tree, then it bit at it, shaking it. _Good boy_, Julia thought. _Break it up for me_.

Julia wondered briefly if she should try to shoot it, but she didn't trust her aim, and she didn't want to risk running out of ammunition if it was still by the cave when she got down. She looked around to see if there was anything else she could hurl at it, and then had a better idea. There was a rock a little smaller than her head, and she grabbed it. She crawled close to the edge and peeked over again. It was still nosing at the tree. She cocked her arm back and threw the rock as hard as she could back upstream.

The rock arced out over the ravine, flying gratifyingly far. It hit on the far side, bouncing down and making a great deal of noise as it did. Even as Julia looked back to where the creature was standing, it had bunched its legs and launched itself up the river towards the sound. _Good boy_, she thought, _go fetch_. She scrambled to the far side of the rock face, grabbed the med kit bag and started picking her way down.

It took her far less than ten minutes to make it back down, mainly because she was slipping and sliding a lot of the time. The weight of the med kit full of wood was awkward to handle, and she was getting clumsy from the cold. She wasn't shivering anymore, and she knew she didn't have much time to get a fire going. Close to the bottom her left leg gave out as she stepped down. She lost her balance entirely and tumbled hard into a boulder at the bottom.

Julia winced, rubbing at the shoulder she'd slammed into the rock, and listened carefully. She didn't think she'd cried out when she fell, but she'd made a lot of noise going down anyway.

She struggled to her feet and peeked out around the boulder, holding the mag-pro ready. There was no sign of the creature, but she didn't want to take any chances with a creature that well-camouflaged.

She was relieved to see she had managed to drop the tree less than twenty meters from the entrance to the cave, and it had landed on a boulder. There were bits of it scattered everywhere, several of them relatively large pieces that would burn for some time. _If I can get to them safely_, Julia thought uneasily, surprised the creature hadn't returned yet.

Julia was about ready to start towards the cave when the creature came back around the boulder the tree had hit.

For an instant, she froze, and it froze. It was much closer to the cave than she was, and it had definitely seen her. She ducked back into the cluster of boulders, her heart pounding.

But even as she considered backing away, there was a part of her that flared up in anger, determined to finish off the creature so she could save Devon without any further interference. _Come on_, she thought, shifting to face the spot it would have to come around the boulder, her finger ready on the mag-pro trigger. _Come on, let's get it over with, you stupid monster._

Before Julia could even finish the thought, it sidled around the boulder in front of her. It gave a low growl, and she stepped backwards involuntarily.

Which probably saved her life, because her left leg gave out again as she stepped back on it and she fell backwards right as the monster swung at where she'd been. Its claws made a teeth-jarring noise as they scraped across the boulder inches above her.

She blinked for a moment, then realized she still had the mag-pro in her hands. She raised it unsteadily and somehow managed to fire before it could swat at her again, catching it first in the rear leg, then, as she raised the mag-pro into position, in the chest, the throat, and then the chest again as it reared up, bellowing.

She fired again and again into the pale gray fur of its chest, blood spattering from round after round, and finally it made a bizarre gurgling noise and started to topple forward.

_Oh, no,_ Julia had time to think, but even as she tried to scramble backwards out of the way, the creature fell on top of her, and the ravine fell silent.

* * *

"Can't we just go on foot?" Alonzo said, pacing back and forth in the dome. "We can't leave them out there all night. It's almost thirty below out there!"

"I know that," Bess said. "But Julia knows how dangerous the cold is. If she said we should wait till morning, she had to be sure they'd be able to survive."

"This is nuts!" Alonzo said. "We have coordinates, we have heaters, we have mag-pros! We should go after them! Come on, Danziger!"

Danziger shook his head reluctantly. "Bess is right, 'Lonz," he said. "Think about it—Julia might be willing to take that kind of risk on her own, but there's no way she'd do it with Devon. If you have any faith at all in Julia's smarts, you'll trust her on this."

"That's not fair," Alonzo said.

"Who said life is fair?" Danziger shot back.

Alonzo glared at him for a long moment, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the dome.

Danziger sighed.

"Thanks, Danziger," Bess said kindly. "I know that had to be hard for you."

Danziger looked up at her and shook his head. "It's gonna be a long night," he said.

* * *

Julia couldn't breathe. The weight of the creature was pressing down on her, the mag-pro digging painfully into her stomach. She managed to turn her head slightly and there was a tiny space in the hollow under the rock that gave her an even tinier amount of air.

The musky smell of the creature almost made her gag, and the little bit of air she did get was barely enough to keep her conscious. But the desperation for more air was bringing her dangerously close to panic. Her heart was pounding so hard she felt like it should be lifting the creature with every beat.

_No_, she told herself, fighting to control her racing heart. _You can't panic. Devon will die. You have to get out from under this thing. You have too much left to do._

She tested each limb, trying to find something that could move, that could give her some leverage to get out. Her left leg had room to move, at least a little. She pulled it up towards her, then pushed hard against the creature, ignoring the stab of pain from her shin. Nothing moved. She shifted it back and tried pushing against the rock instead.

And miraculously, she slid a tiny bit. Unfortunately, it shifted the creature a little, too, and the little pocket of air she had disappeared. She dragged her left arm across her, one of the parts of the mag-pro cutting into her forearm as she did, but she was able to get it into the space under the rock and push up against the creature.

She gasped for air, her vision starting to go gray around the edges. She pulled her leg up again and shoved hard against the rock. She slid only another few centimeters, the med kit shifting slightly under her, but was rewarded by the mag-pro shifting so it wasn't digging directly into her diaphragm. She was able to get a little more air when she pushed up against the creature again, and the fear of blacking out faded slightly.

_Keep moving_, she told herself. She shoved again with her leg, and made it a few more centimeters, and the top of her head suddenly felt icy cold.

_Come on_, she said, shoving with both her leg and her arm now, _you're so close_. Her head got free of the creature, and she gasped, savoring every oxygen molecule that she was able to squeeze in. Another titanic push got her shoulders free, and she managed to pull her left arm out.

It took what seemed like forever, but she was finally able to pull herself free. She lay on half on her side, breathing hard, completely spent. It was bitterly cold, and she found herself longing for the warmth the creature had provided, but even as she thought it, the cold didn't seem quite so bad. _It must be dawn. We made it_, she thought vaguely, but looking up, she saw the sky was still dark.

Then she realized what was happening, and she somehow found the strength to roll onto her knees. _Keep moving. If you stop, you'll die, and Devon won't have a chance. You have to keep moving._

* * *

Devon looked towards the entrance to the cave. _Come on, Julia_, she thought, worried. _Where the hell are you?_ The roaring had startled her out of sleep, and the firing of the mag-pro had scared her enough to start her moving. But both had stopped a few minutes earlier, and there was still no sign of Julia.

Devon unzipped her jacket and carefully tried to slide one arm into the sleeve. It hurt like hell, but she managed to get it on, and the pain helped her stay awake. Breathing hard, she started crawling toward the opening of the cave. She felt too dizzy and tired to even try making it to her feet, but she managed to put one hand in front of the other, and her knees followed until she made it to the cleft.

"Julia?" she called, too tired to even realize the danger she might be in making that much noise. "Julia, answer me!"

She pulled herself a little farther, and finally could see the unmoving form of the creature, or at least the back end of it. The rest of it was hidden by a boulder.

Devon was about to call out again when Julia crawled clumsily over the furry mound. She seemed to be all right, but as Devon watched, she realized Julia was half-covered in blood. She rolled off the creature and came to a stop sitting with her back against the creature. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

"Julia!" Devon said. "Wake up!"

Her head shot up. "Devon?" she said slowly, and she sounded confused.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm…fine," she said, but the brief hesitation made Devon wonder. "Wait right there. Don't move." She turned, climbed unsteadily to her feet and went around the other side of a boulder, limping heavily. Devon held her breath, hoping she hadn't fallen over. She'd certainly looked like she might. But she reappeared several long seconds later, dragging a sizeable chunk of tree trunk behind her, barely putting any weight on her left leg.

She was halfway back to the cave when she wavered, then went down on her left knee.

"Julia!" Devon said, cursing under her breath. _I'm damned near useless to her right now_, she thought. "Talk to me! Please!"

Julia raised her hand, but her head was down, and she seemed to be breathing hard. "Just…gimme a minute," she said faintly. After what seemed like an eternity to Devon, she struggled back to her feet and started dragging the tree again. "Sorry," she said, finally reaching the cave. She leaned heavily on the wall of the cave.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Devon said.

"I killed it," she said, and she sounded proud.

"I saw," Devon said. "Very impressive. Make for a great story back at camp. Did it hurt you?"

Julia shook her head. "Well, not exactly," she added, frowning. "I shot it—a lot—and then...didn't get out of the way fast enough."

"It fell on you?!" Devon said, wondering how she'd survived. _That thing has to weigh a ton!_

"Sort of," Julia said. "I got lucky again. The boulder kept most of the weight off me. But it took a long time to get out from under..." She sighed, wrinkling her nose. "It was hard to breathe. And…it smelled bad." She shook her head and started to lean down to help Devon up. "We need to get you back inside."

"I can make it," Devon said, waving her off.

"You sure?" Julia said, and Devon knew she must be utterly exhausted, or she'd never have considered letting her try it on her own.

"I'll be fine," Devon said, and rolled onto her hands and knees and started crawling back inside. _I'll be fine_, she thought. _Just put one hand in front of the other._

Julia struggled in after her, pulling the tree behind her, though she had a lot of trouble getting it past the dogleg at the opening. By the time she finally got it inside, she was listing ominously to one side.

Devon got back to the emergency blanket and leaned tiredly against the rock wall, the cuts on her back pulsing with pain. "Sit down, Julia, before you fall down," she said.

Julia shook her head. "Can't," she said. "Not yet." She pulled the med kit off her back and let it fall to the ground. She blinked several times. "Adrenaline's wearing off," she said, and the words were almost unintelligible. "...so tired."

"I'll bet," Devon said, wondering how long she'd be able to keep upright. _At least I still have that stimulant running through me_, she thought, and knew if she didn't, she wouldn't have been awake at all.

Julia knelt clumsily next to the med kit, opened it and unceremoniously dumped out a bunch of smaller pieces of wood. Then she stared at them vacantly, like she couldn't figure out what to do next.

_What if she's really hurt?_ Devon thought. _I don't have a clue what to do about it._ "Here," she said, pulling the diaglove from the pile of medical supplies beside her. "Let me scan you."

Julia blinked at the diaglove for a moment, then reached for it.

"No," Devon said, starting to put it on her hand, "let me."

Julia shook her head emphatically. "I'm okay," she said. "Jus' give it to me." She grabbed it away from Devon, pulled off her left glove with her teeth and put it on. "Laser cut," she said, and pointed her finger at the little pile of wood. The laser shot out and the wood started to smoke. She added more small twigs to the pile, then used the laser to start them burning in several spots, adding larger pieces as the fire took hold.

"That's good enough, Julia," Devon said, already feeling a hint of warmth from the small pile. "It's going."

Julia didn't show any sign of having heard her. She turned, pulling ineffectually at the tree, trying to get it closer to the fire. It slid a few centimeters.

Devon leaned over, grabbed one of the burning bits of wood and tossed it into the cluster of branches closest to her. "There," she said, relieved to see it catch fire quickly. "One less thing to worry about. C'mere." She pulled the emergency blanket out from under herself and once Julia had half-crawled, half-fallen close enough, wrapped the end around her. Devon carefully slid one arm around the doctor and pulled her close.

"'m falling asleep," Julia mumbled into Devon's jacket.

"I know," Devon said. "It's okay. You did great. Just rest now."

"No, not okay," she said. "Too cold."

"Sure," Devon said, but the thought of sleeping again had set her own eyelids drooping.

"I mean it," Julia insisted, raising her head for a moment and trying to look at her. "If we sleep, you could die. I can't…can't let that happen."

"I know," Devon said, but there was no way she'd be able to stay awake. She reached over and pulled the diaglove off Julia's hand, then grabbed Julia's glove from where it had fallen and wriggled it onto her unresisting hand. "I'll set this so it'll wake us both up, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Julia murmured, leaning her head against Devon's shoulder. "I didn't...mean..."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Devon said, but that last effort must have taken Julia's last reserves, because when Devon turned to look at her, she was asleep.

Devon ran the diaglove over her, just in case, and was relieved to see that there were no major injuries, only bruises. _Only_, she thought, studying the readout carefully to make sure she was reading it right. _She has bruises on her bruises. We're both in bad shape. And there isn't a thing I can do about it._

The last thing Devon remembered was resting her head against Julia's, watching the rest of the tree start to burn, savoring the gratifying warmth it produced, and hoping it was enough to keep them alive till morning.

* * *

"Julia!"

Devon jolted awake. Julia was still sleeping, her gloved hand draped across Devon's knee. The fire was almost dead, and it was freezing in the cave. _Oh, no, I slept through the alarm_, Devon thought. And then she realized what had woken her.

"Devon!" Danziger's voice called from somewhere above them. He sounded frantic. "Where the hell are you?"

"Hmm?" Julia said faintly, but she didn't move.

_I have to get up_, Devon thought. _Danziger's going to be mad if I don't._ But she couldn't keep her eyes open. There were faint sounds of voices, and she faded out again.

"Julia! Devon! Answer me!"

That was Alonzo, and he was closer, not so far above them. Devon forced her eyes open. She tried to untangle herself from Julia and the emergency blanket but her back hurt with the slightest movement. "Here!" she called, and it came out almost as a croak. She swallowed hard. "In here!"

"Did you hear that?" she heard Helen say.

"Yeah!" Alonzo said. "Devon! Keep talking!"

"There's a cave," Devon called. "We're inside..." She tried to say something else, but she must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing she knew, Helen was kneeling over her, holding a flashlight in her mouth and studying the diaglove.

"Is she okay?" Alonzo said, and Devon looked over at him. He was hovering over Helen's right shoulder, leaning against the cave wall and looking worriedly down at Julia, who still hadn't moved.

"Barely," Helen said after handing him the flashlight. "Both of them are hypothermic. Do you have the heater?"

Alonzo pulled it out of his pack and flipped it on. The heat was nice, and Devon felt herself relaxing into sleep again. But then she felt Julia stir.

"Mel?" Julia murmured. "Devon's hurt."

"We know," Helen said. "Don't worry, Julia. We've got this."

"Did she get hurt killing that thing out there?" Alonzo said.

"I wish," Devon said, and she couldn't seem to make the words come out as more than a mumbled mess. "That was Julia the giant-killer."

"Attagirl," Helen said, grinning down at her. She pulled more of the chemical heat packs from the med kit she'd brought and tucked them into Julia's boots, then did the same for Devon.

"Frostbite?" Julia said faintly.

Helen shook her head. "Not yet, though you were probably close."

"How are they?" Danziger said, coming into the cave. He leaned over to look at Devon worriedly.

"They're okay," Helen said. "Give me a minute to check on Devon and get their core temps up a little, and we can move them out."

Danziger handed her another heater, and she set it on the other side of Devon. "Sergei and Bill are looking at that thing out there. There's enough meat on it to last us a while. And get this—Bill thinks he can figure out how to tan the hide. He wants to make a fur coat out of it."

"Bigfoot," Julia said.

"What?" Devon said, wondering what Julia was talking about.

"We're calling it Bigfoot," Julia said, raising her head and blinking sleepily. "I killed it. I get to name it."

Devon started to laugh.

Danziger looked stunned, then grinned. "Bigfoot it is. And I'd say you killing that thing gives you more than naming rights. You get the fur coat, too."

* * *

Julia woke up in her tent. She had no idea how long it had been since they'd been in the cave. She looked around and saw Devon sleeping face-down on a cot near Rob, and Yale was sitting at the lab table, studying something on a tablet.

"Yale?" she said quietly.

"Hey," Devon said, opening her eyes to look over at her. "How are you feeling?"

Julia sat up, wincing slightly. "Sore," she said, "but otherwise okay. You?"

"She is healing well," Yale said. "And she will continue to do so as long as she remains still." He gave her a severe look.

"He's even worse than you are," Devon said. "He actually threatened to tie me to the bunk."

"Do not make me carry out that threat," Yale said darkly. He turned to Julia. "And you are to remain in your bed as well, Doctor."

"But I'm—"

"You are not fine. You have a deep bone bruise on your left leg that needs rest and time to heal properly. There is nothing that needs your attention at present. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Julia said meekly.

"Good," Yale said. He handed her the tablet. "I wasn't sure if you had seen this or not, but I thought I should show it to you."

It was Melanie's tablet. Julia vaguely remembered having seen it in the mess the day of the attack, but she hadn't seen it since.

"It had fallen under Rob's bunk," Yale said. "There is a message for you on the home screen."

Julia saw it—a smiley face icon labelled "For Julia, just in case." The smiley face was sticking out its tongue. _Only Melanie_, Julia thought with a pang.

"I will leave you alone for a bit," Yale said gently and went into the dome.

Julia stared blindly at the tablet for a moment. She glanced up when she felt Devon's eyes on her.

"Sorry," Devon said quietly. "I'd offer to leave, but I think Yale really would tie me to the bunk."

"It's okay," Julia said. "I don't think I could look at it right now anyway." She looked at Devon for a long moment, then sighed. "I'm so sorry, Devon. This was all my fault. I never should have made us go that far. And I shouldn't have said those horrible—"

"Don't start," Devon cut her off. She shook her head, smiling. "You already apologized once. Besides, we both spend too much energy on feeling guilty. You saved my life, Julia. I'm just glad I get one more chance to try to make things right."

Julia sighed again, this time in relief. "You and me both." She looked back at the tablet, deciding that she wouldn't look at Melanie's message until there was no hope left at all. But before she could put it into sleep mode, she noticed a blinking icon at the top. She frowned.

"What is it?" Devon said.

Julia tapped the icon, and it opened up a log of recordings. Julia recognized the dates of the first several. _These are the recordings of my VR meetings with Brendan_, she thought sickly.

But there was a new recording blinking at the bottom of the list. From the day of the attack. The amount of data in the recording was massive, even more than her longest VR session, though the link had only been open a couple of seconds.

_But that's impossible_, Julia thought. _There's no way a standard VR feed could carry that much data. Unless..._ "Oh, god," she breathed.

"Julia?" Devon said, sounding worried. "Are you all right? Should I call Yale?"

"No!" Julia said quickly. She looked up at Devon, and Devon recoiled at the look of sorrow on her face. "Devon...I think I know who the other spy is."


	12. Chapter 12

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 12

* * *

_A/N: As promised. Even before I get any reviews of Chapter 11. ;-)_

* * *

It was darker than it usually got on G-889. Both moons were barely slivers, making it much harder to see where she was going. She tripped and fell hard, and for a moment she just lay there, too tired and cold to get up. But then she heard something coming, and she scrambled to her feet again.

She forced herself to run, heading north along the riverbed, hoping the bank would give her some cover from her pursuers. It was hard to keep up speed, though, with the numbness of her feet, the lack of food, and the bitter cold. It had been two days since she'd eaten the last bit of the food she'd stolen from her captors, and since then she'd been relying on the few native plants she knew were edible. Which didn't amount to much.

_Thank god I know as much as I do about those_, she thought, grateful for the time she'd spent helping to identify them. She shied away from the thought, though, knowing it would only remind her of the people she might never see again.

_Stop it_, she told herself, limping along the thin strip of dry land below the riverbank. _You're going to make it. You'll find the Eden Project, and then you'll see all of them again. You have to—everything depends on it._

There was another sound from behind her, up on the higher ground. She dove toward the bank, scrambling to find any kind of cover, and hoping they wouldn't be able to see her in the darkness. She tried desperately to make her mind as much of a black hole as she could, but she knew it wouldn't work.

_They're going to find me and take me back_, she thought, despairingly.

A tall, six-limbed silhouette appeared above her, casting the faintest shadow on the river in front of her. She closed her eyes, willing it to go away. _Please. Just let me go._

* * *

"What do you think?" Julia asked Valerie. It had taken until the morning after their rescue for her to find a way to get Valerie into the med tent to look at Melanie's tablet without anyone knowing what they were doing, and the strain had been almost unbearable. But now, she dreaded the answer.

Valerie glanced up from the tablet she'd been studying. Her expression was grim.

"That's what I was afraid of," Julia said.

"No," Devon said desperately, even though she'd known who it was the moment Julia had told her she knew. "It's not possible! He wouldn't—"

"He's the only one who could have done it, Devon," Valerie said. "It was a burst transmission. Nobody else here has the equipment to do it."

"Is it possible he doesn't know he's doing it?" Julia said. "Morgan was telling me about some of the issues with the cyborg program."

Devon wasn't listening. She lowered herself onto Julia's bunk, staring at nothing. "It can't be Yale…he's been with us for most of Uly's life. There's no one I trust more!"

"Devon, listen, it may not be his fault," Julia said insistently. "It could be something in his programming. It could even explain why he was having all those blackouts."

"If it is in his programming, we could be in all sorts of trouble," Valerie said grimly. "What do you think he'll do when he finds out we know?"

Julia shook her head. "We can't risk just confronting him directly," she said, still looking worriedly at Devon.

Devon shook her head. "No," she said, trying to bring herself under control. "You're right, it's too dangerous. Julia, is there a sedative that will work on him?"

Julia looked concerned. "I don't know. The sedative I used on him the other night worked fine on the human part of him, but I have no idea how his implants work. It's possible he could still function with only the cybernetics. But maybe if I added a paralytic…"

Devon looked up at Valerie. "You're absolutely certain?"

Valerie nodded. "I think Melanie must have figured it out. In all the chaos, I'd forgotten, but she said it wasn't Hardy, right before…" She stopped, regretting having said it when she saw the sick look on Devon's face. _Bad enough telling her about Yale_, Valerie thought, _but you just __had__ to bring up Melanie, too. Nice going, Carter._ "Anyway, I know every bit of equipment in this camp, and there's nothing else that could have done this. Hell, I doubt if there was much available on the ship that could have managed this. There was an enormous amount of data in the burst, and it went through in encrypted form almost too fast for Melanie's receiver to pick up."

"Okay," Devon said quietly. She stood up stiffly, wincing. "Okay, here's what we do…"

* * *

It took barely two days of travel to make it back to where she'd started from nearly a week earlier. The Terriers—_what a ridiculous name_, she thought yet again, wondering how on earth it had stuck the way it did—had carried her on their backs, her hands bound behind her. It was certainly more comfortable than the outward trip had been, but that was hardly enough to improve her mood, and the wear and tear of her journey to that point had her at the point of collapse.

They rode into the Terrier camp in the early evening, just as the moons were rising. The Terrier whose back she'd been riding on came to a stop, and another grabbed her and swung her off its back.

She paused, trying to get the feeling back into her freezing feet, but the Terrier pushed her forward. She turned, shooting it an angry look. It shoved her even harder, and she went sprawling onto her knees. She stayed there a moment, trying to catch her breath, and saw the pristine white boots of a Council agent come into view. She looked up, trying not to let her dismay show.

"Well, well, well," he said, sounding as smug and arrogant as Brendan Riley, and inspiring the same urge to punch him in the face. "Kate Tennyson! Such a pleasant surprise!"

"Go to hell, Nathan," she said, struggling to her feet.

"There are times I think I'm already there," he said. "But I'm sure you feel the same way. How disappointing it must be for you to have made it so far and still not escape."

She didn't respond, looking steadily at him.

"Well, if it's any consolation, you made the Terriers very unhappy. Oh, by the way, you'll have some company on the way back to the base," he said. He nodded at the Terrier behind her, and it grabbed her arm, the claw digging painfully into her, and dragged her off to the tent with the rudimentary wooden cage she'd spent so much time in already.

But this time there was someone else in it. The Terrier opened the doorway to the cage and shoved her through hard enough she landed on her side.

"Well, hello there," said a small, dark-haired young woman huddled in the corner of the cage. She had a long trail of blood down one side of her face, and she looked exhausted, but she still managed a sunny smile. "Welcome to the Terrier Hilton. I'm the closest thing to a concierge you'll find here, but don't expect great things from me. My resources are a bit limited." She held out her hand, wavering slightly. "I'm Melanie."

* * *

Devon came into Dome One, feeling the weight of the handgun Valerie had insisted she carry at her back, and felt like a traitor.

"Oh, Devon," Toshiko said, "I was just going to come look for you. I had an idea. About how to raise morale. Did you know Julia's birthday is—?"

"Um, can it wait, Tosh?" Devon said, and she knew her voice sounded unnatural. "I need to talk to Yale."

"Oh," Toshiko said, looking slightly hurt. "Okay."

"What is it you need, Devon?" Yale said, looking up from the holo he'd been studying.

"We're trying to get an estimate of how long winter will be here, and Julia thought you might be able to help," she said. "She's been doing some calculations on the length of the days, but she needs some of the survey data."

"Oh, of course. I have all the measurements of the size, axial tilt and orbital path of G-889," Yale said. He stood up from where he'd been sitting next to Uly. "Is Julia in the med tent?"

"No," Devon said, backing towards the door so he wouldn't see the gun. "She's over in Dome Two. Rick was helping her." She reached into her pocket and gripped the hypospray Julia had given her.

Yale paused as he got next to her, looking sidelong at her. "Dome Two? Is something wrong, Devon?"

"Wrong? No, of course not," Devon said. _Get him outside, away from Uly_, she thought. "I'm just a little worried. You know how limited our food supplies are, so if we have to face a long winter…" She trailed off, trying to look concerned, and Yale nodded. He stepped into the entryway ahead of her, and Devon breathed a tiny sigh of relief.

She followed him outside. Valerie was waiting there, and Devon could see Danziger over by the edge of the cliff that jutted out alongside Dome Two. He had a mag-pro held almost out of sight behind him in the shadows. _We're not going to need it_, Devon told herself.

"Hello, Valerie," Yale said, and there was an odd halting sound to his words.

Devon gripped the hypospray in her hand and pulled it out of her pocket.

"Hello, Yale," Valerie said, and she had one hand held behind her back.

_It's too obvious_, Devon thought, edging up behind him. _He knows._

Yale turned slightly to glance back at Devon, and there was an oddly blank look on his face. Devon shifted slightly to keep the hypospray out of sight. "What is going on, Devon?" he said.

"It's okay, Yale," Devon said. "Just come with us to Dome Two, and I'll explain everything."

Yale's head tilted slightly to the side, and his eyes narrowed. Then everything happened all at once. Yale turned and lunged to rip the handgun out of Valerie's hand with his normal hand, then sent her flying backwards with a massive blow to her chest from his cybernetic arm. Then he turned back before Devon could even react and swatted the hypospray out of her hand. It flew backwards and clattered off the side of Dome One. Yale backed around the curve of the dome so Danziger couldn't get a shot at him.

"No one come any closer," Yale said in halting words, holding the handgun pointed at Devon. "I w-will shoot her."

* * *

"I'm Kate," she said, taking the young woman's hand gently, trying to wrap her mind around being with one of the people she'd been looking for. "You're Melanie? Melanie Wilson?"

"Oh, so you've heard of me?" Melanie said. "Cool. My mother always wanted me to be famous."

"You were on the crew of the Eden Advance ship," Kate said, hope blooming in her. "How did you get here? Are they close?"

"Oh, come on, do you really think I'm that stupid?" Melanie said coldly. "That guy Nathan's been trying to get me to tell him everything about Eden Advance for two days."

Kate recoiled. "I—no, of course not," she said, remembering what she looked like. "Sorry—I forgot I'm still wearing the uniform. It's just…I've been looking for you for weeks."

"You and him, too," Melanie said warily.

"I assume you know Julia Heller?" Kate said, brushing back a strand of blonde hair that had worked its way out of her braid.

Melanie narrowed her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I owe her a beer, or whatever we can find here that comes closest to it," Kate said. "I work for her mother, and if it wasn't for Dr. Heller, I'd probably be dead."

* * *

"Yale, please, listen to me," Devon said. "No one wants to hurt you!"

Julia came out of the med tent with two hyposprays in hand. She hesitated, watching the standoff between Devon and Yale, then saw Alonzo a few meters away, looking like he was about to go charging into the fray.

"Alonzo!" she whispered, getting close enough for him to hear her, but trying to keep out of Yale's line of sight.

Alonzo turned to her and frowned. He jogged over to her. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get Devon and Yale both out of this alive," she said. "You need to talk to him. No, not him. Talk to Biko. I need you to distract him till I can get behind him with this. Tell Danziger to hold his fire."

"Are you crazy?" Alonzo said. "Give it to me—I'll dose him."

Julia shook her head. "Trust me—I have a plan, and it doesn't involve anybody getting shot. Unlike yours."

Alonzo looked annoyed at that, but relented. "Okay, but if you do get yourself shot, I'm going to hunt you down in the afterlife to knock some sense into you. Got it?"

Julia smiled, then turned and limped as quickly as she could toward the back of Dome One.

Alonzo ran over to where Danziger was kneeling with the mag-pro ready to fire. "Danziger," Alonzo whispered. "Tell everyone to hold their fire. We have a plan to take him down."

"No way, 'Lonz," Danziger growled, and nearly jumped to his feet when he saw Devon step away from the doorway to Dome One and stand directly in front of Yale.

"Yale," Devon said, holding up one hand, "please put down the gun."

"God damn it, Devon!" Danziger shouted. "Get down!"

"Danziger, we can stop him!" Alonzo said. "Julia's already on her way—you gotta let me talk to him, or she'll get herself killed along with Devon!"

Danziger hesitated, kicking himself for not taking down Yale sooner. Now Devon was in his line of fire, and he couldn't risk it. He tapped his gear. "Does anybody have a clear shot?"

"Not without risking Devon," Helen said, sounding frustrated.

Danziger swore under his breath. He glanced sidelong at Alonzo. "You and the doc'd better be right about this."

Alonzo grinned. "C'mon, Danziger, it's me!" He started out to talk to Yale.

Yale had turned to face Devon, bringing the handgun around to point at her. "Dev—" he began, then winced. The barrel of the gun was shaking, and he seemed to be fighting to point it away from Devon.

"It's okay, Yale," Devon said. "You can fight this. You're more than just your programming—so much more! Put down the gun."

"I told you he was a walking time bomb!" Morgan whispered to Bess from their hiding place behind Dome One.

"Morgan, I need your help," Julia said, scrambling up next to him. She had the med kit slung over one shoulder, and she was holding a hypospray in each hand.

"Me?!" Morgan said. "Why me?"

"Because we're the only ones with a chance to get behind Yale right now, and I need you to get behind him to use this," Julia whispered, handing him one of the hyposprays.

"What about you?" Morgan said.

"I'm gonna try to dose him myself first, but if that doesn't work, I want a backup plan. I'll give him something else to look at," Julia said, holding up another hypospray. "If that happens, you get behind him, put this to his neck and push the button. It'll only take a second or two to take effect."

"Julia, no! It's too dangerous," Bess said.

"Don't worry, Bess," Julia said. "I'll make sure Morgan's safe."

"But who's going to keep you safe?" Bess said.

"Trust me," Julia whispered. "Morgan, give me a few seconds, then follow me around. You'll know what to do." She turned and ran around the back side of Dome One and disappeared.

"Biko!" Alonzo called, and Devon turned to look at him, her eyes wide. "Hey, man, it's me, Solace. You remember me, right?"

Yale looked at him, frowning.

"Come on, I ended up spending twenty-four years in coldsleep for you, pal, you should at least pretend you remember me," Alonzo said, grinning as he walked closer.

"Solace?" Yale said, and it was Biko's voice again.

"Yep, in the flesh," Alonzo said breezily. "What's with the gun?"

"I—" Yale said, and winced again. "Solace, you gotta help me. Shoot me. Please."

"No way, Biko," Alonzo said. "I didn't travel twenty-two light years and eighty years to let you die like this. Come on, you're stronger than this."

"But I'm not," he said plaintively, though the gun was wavering now. "I can…almost control me, but I can't…I can't make the machines do what I want."

Devon watched him carefully, debating whether or not she should say anything, but then she saw Julia appear in the tiny space behind Dome One. She was holding a hypospray in her right hand. She crept towards Yale, and Devon forced herself to look back at Yale, who was now looking at Alonzo.

For an instant, his eyes widened, and he looked like he was trying to say something more, but then his expression shut down again, and he turned and fired the handgun at Julia.

"No!" Devon and Alonzo both shouted at the same instant, but something of Yale or Biko was still in there, because he missed by almost a meter, the bullet sending up a cloud of dirt from the cliff wall behind Julia.

Yale moaned, and the barrel of the gun shook even harder.

Julia froze, wide-eyed, and held her hands out to her sides. "Nobody shoot!" she shouted. "Stand down, Yale," she said in a surprisingly commanding voice, and started edging towards Devon around the side of Dome One. "Council orders. I.D. Delta oh-four-nine-one-seven. Stand down and lower your weapon! Now!"

"Julia, what are you doing?" Valerie said, struggling to get up from where she'd landed.

Yale paused for an instant, his expression blank, and the gun dipped slightly. Julia took a step towards him. But before she could get close enough to sedate him, Yale looked up again, and he looked coldly at Julia and began to raise the gun again.

"No, Biko, don't!" Alonzo shouted. "Look at me, damn it! It's the Council making you do this! The same Council who killed all those people on Aeneas, the same Council that stuck us both in coldsleep for all those years, the same Council that made you a cyborg. Don't let them make you a killer!"

"Julia," Yale forced out through gritted teeth, "please, g-get back. I—I don't know…" The barrel of the handgun was lifting, edging closer to pointing at Julia.

"Yale!" Devon shouted. "Look at me! Please!"

He turned his head slightly, but seemed to be fighting to do that much. Julia took a step back and towards Devon, hoping to keep Yale looking their way so Morgan could have a shot at him.

"Yale, think about Uly. Don't do this to him," Devon pleaded. "Please, put down the gun."

"I…" He wrenched his head around to look at her. "I…am…sorry," he said, and he was bending his arm, turning the gun towards himself.

"No!" Devon pleaded.

"Biko, don't! We can—!"

Suddenly, Yale's head jerked up, and he began to turn. Alonzo dove forward, grabbing the arm holding the gun and trying to force it down, but Yale was already collapsing in front of Morgan.

* * *

"Wait," Melanie said. "You work for Julia's mother? Present tense work for?"

"I sure hope so," Kate said quietly. "She was alive and well the last time I saw her."

"When!?" Melanie said, falling forward onto her knees to look closely at Kate's face. "How long ago?"

Kate counted backwards in her head. "A little over five weeks," she said. "We'd just made it out of the Council camp, and she sent us—me and my partner—up here to try to find you."

Melanie looked stunned. "She's alive. Julia was so sure they'd—"

"Then Julia's still alive, too?" Kate said eagerly.

Melanie looked nervous. "Look, if you're really one of the good guys, I'm really sorry, but…I don't know if I should trust you. You are wearing a Council uniform, after all."

Kate nodded. "Fair enough. What do I need to do to convince you?"

Melanie looked perplexed. "Well, for starters, you could explain the uniform."

Kate smiled. "Sorry. I'm Kate Tennyson, former Council agent. I didn't have time to bring a change of clothes. The reason the uniform is such a mess is that I've been on the run from the Council. These guys," she gestured at the camp outside the tent, "caught me about a week and a half ago. I managed to get out after about three days, but they caught up with me again a couple of days ago."

"Former," Melanie said skeptically. "So tell me, Kate Tennyson, why does the Council want to kill us so badly?"

"To keep you from exposing them as the lying, baby-killing bastards they are," Kate said venomously. "It's all about the Syndrome, and their responsibility for it. For allowing hundreds of children to get sick and die. Including my nephew."

"I take it you disapprove?" Melanie said dryly.

"Believe it or not, there's a whole group of people working for the Council who disapprove. Starting with Councilwoman Heller," Kate said.

"How many?" Melanie said.

"Here? Nineteen, including three former Council agents like me. At least, that's how many got out. There are also four others who volunteered to risk staying in the camp," Kate said. "That's out of a total of a hundred and fifty. The Council loyalists have eighteen agents and another hundred and three people. Do you want details on armaments?"

Melanie looked hard at her for a long moment. "Okay," she said finally. "So what do you say you and me blow this pop stand and go find Julia?"

Kate blinked at her. "Just like that?" she said. "You don't know anything about me."

Melanie waved her hand in the air. "Knowing people is overrated. I barely knew Julia when we landed, but I'd have done anything for her in about ten minutes, and it's only gotten better since then."

"That must be a Heller family trait," Kate said. "I felt the same way about her mother."

"Besides," Melanie continued, "you could be Satan incarnate and if you could help me get out of this cage, I'd give you a good character reference."

* * *

Devon let out a gasp of relief, kneeling next to Yale as Alonzo wrenched the gun from his hand and handed it to Danziger. Julia landed on her knees next to Yale and started running her diaglove over him.

"Thank you, Morgan," Devon said breathlessly, looking up at him.

Morgan nodded wordlessly, looking terrified. Bess ran up and grabbed him, and then there was a stampede of everyone else in the camp coming up around them. Valerie staggered up next to Julia.

"Are you okay?" Julia asked her.

Valerie nodded. "A little more than my pride is bruised, but I'll live. Is he really down?"

Julia set down the hypospray and reached up to lift Yale's eyelid as the diaglove ran its scan. As she did, Yale's cybernetic hand shot up and grabbed her arm. She reared back, surprised, and then gasped as his hand squeezed her forearm with frightening force.

"What the—?" Danziger said, and then grabbed Devon, dragging her away from Yale, though she struggled against him.

"Julia!" Alonzo said, lunging toward her. Even as he did, there was a sickeningly audible snap, and Julia's face went gray. He grabbed Julia by the shoulders as she started to tip sideways. Valerie grabbed Yale's hand, trying to find some way to get it to release its grip.

"Get back!" Morgan said. "Everybody!" He knelt next to Yale's head and lifted it. He reached down and slid back a tiny port on one of Yale's implants at the back of his neck.

"Hurry!" Alonzo said, holding Julia. She had her eyes screwed shut and was breathing hard through gritted teeth.

Morgan reached into the implant with one finger and pressed a button, and Yale's arm jolted. Julia cried out, and then sagged forward as Yale released her, his arm falling limply to the ground as Valerie pulled back. Alonzo caught Julia, holding her up.

"Julia?" Devon said, breaking free from Danziger's grasp and scrambling back to Yale's side. "Are you all right?"

Julia nodded, but she was cradling her right forearm, and her face was creased with pain. As Julia carefully rolled back her sleeve, Devon could see the marks from Yale's mechanical hand imprinted on her arm, and it was already swelling. "Alonzo," Julia said, her voice tight, "can you help me get the med-kit off?"

He carefully slid the strap off her shoulder and eased it past her injured arm, laid it on the ground in front of her and unzipped it. Julia reached in, grabbed a painblock vial, paused for an instant and then looked up. "Somebody go to the med tent. In the dispensary, there's a vial labeled intocostrin. Bring it. Hurry."

Sergei ran for the med tent. Julia set the hypospray in her lap, wiggled the vial of sedative out of it awkwardly with her diagloved hand, then shook her head. "Alonzo…?" she said. He grabbed it, plugged the painblock into the hypospray and dosed her. She let out a faint sigh as the painblock started to take effect. She looked up at Morgan. "What did you do?"

"There's a manual reset button," he said. "It'll take maybe ten minutes for it to cycle."

Julia nodded. "Thank you," she said.

"What about your arm?" Valerie said, worried.

"It's broken," Julia said dismissively.

"How bad?" Alonzo said.

"It's not anything to worry about right now," Julia said, though it was clear she was in a lot of pain, even with the painblock starting to take effect.

Sergei ran up. "Is this the right one?" he said, holding out a vial.

Valerie took it from him and held it for Julia to read. She nodded. Valerie grabbed the hypospray from Alonzo and plugged the vial into it. "Inject Yale with it," Julia said. She caught Devon's questioning look as Valerie dosed the cyborg. "It's a paralytic," she said. "It should keep him from doing this to anybody else for a while. Hopefully, we can figure out how to fix him before it wears off."

"Let's get him to the med tent," Danziger said. "Sergei, go grab a bunch of biocord. I want him tied down tight before that whatever it was Julia gave him wears off." Danziger and several of the group picked up Yale and started to carry him away. Devon trailed in their wake, looking lost.

_God, I wish Melanie were here_, Julia thought for the thousandth time, and it must have shown on her face, because Valerie knelt next to her and said, "Can I help?" Julia gave her a watery smile, and between the two of them, they got her arm into a temporary sling. Toshiko ran up with some of the ice packs from the cooler, and Julia tucked them carefully into the sling. Valerie and Alonzo helped her to her feet.

"Morgan, what do you know about the cyborg programming?" Julia said.

"More than I wanted to," Morgan said darkly. "I already told Valerie they had failsafe programming—if they had certain thoughts or triggered specific memories, the failsafe could kick in and make them do something. Most of them had it set so they'd send out an alarm and then lock down. But they could be programmed to do almost anything."

"Like shoot everybody," Valerie said.

"Yeah," Morgan said. "Lucky for us, they had trouble with it sometimes. For some of them, the programming wasn't strong enough."

"Thank god," Julia said, starting towards the med tent.

"No kidding," Alonzo said, putting his hand on her back. "It's a good thing Biko's still in there somewhere. It could have been worse."

"I just worry what other surprises there might be in there," Valerie said grimly. "I've been through most of the stuff I flagged, and found some things I thought might help with his blackouts. But I hadn't finished looking for stuff like this. It shouldn't take too long to find, but…"

"Do you think you can get rid of them?" Julia said.

Valerie shook her head uncertainly. "I won't know until I get in and see how it's structured. But it's going to be risky. Integration of biological and computer components is still pretty new. If I do the wrong thing with the programming, it could cause biological reactions. And Morgan tells me the people who programmed him planned a response if the programming is adjusted."

"So, what, he could blow up if you try to fix him?" Bess said, following them towards the med tent.

"I doubt it'll be something that bad," Valerie said, but she didn't sound very confident.

"We can't take the risk!" Morgan said.

"We have to," Alonzo said. "He's a good man, Morgan, not a criminal. He deserves better than this. Besides, losing him would kill Devon."

"Are you crazy?" Morgan said. "We could lose a lot more than Yale!"

"They're right, Morgan," Bess said quietly, and he turned, surprised at her response. "It was bad enough losing Melanie. We have to try."

Julia's breath caught, and Alonzo looked sharply at her, but she didn't stop walking toward the med tent. "Morgan is right about one thing," she said. "We need to minimize the risk to everyone else."

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Melanie said.

Kate leaned back tiredly against the wooden bars of their cage. "You're asking me? I wasn't exactly successful on my first breakout."

"At least you got out," Melanie said. "I haven't managed that much."

"How long have you been here?" Kate said.

"I'm not really sure. I've been conscious for two days, but I think I must have been here longer than that."

Kate frowned at her. "How bad is it?" she said, gesturing at Melanie's head.

"It's a lot better now than it was two days ago," Melanie said dryly. "The first day I could barely move. Now I think I could probably run, at least for a while."

"Well, you'll have to manage more than that if we're going to make it. I think for the moment, we need to focus on getting you healthy. Me, too," she added, finally giving in to her body's insistent demand for extended rest.

"Are you injured?" Melanie said, leaning forward to look at her.

"I don't think so," Kate said.

"You don't think so?" Melanie said. "And you're not sure because…?"

"I haven't really been able to feel my feet for a while," Kate admitted.

Melanie groaned. "Oh, wonderful, another one of those."

"One of what?"

"The stoic to a fault, unwilling to admit weakness, self-sacrificing morons. You and Julia have a lot in common," Melanie said acidly. "Take off your boots."

Kate sighed and leaned forward to unfasten her boots. It hurt pulling them off, which she thought was a good sign, and then really hurt as circulation started to return.

"Well, aren't you a mess," Melanie muttered, peeling off Kate's wet socks. "Doing a little wading, were you?" She studied Kate's feet for a while, then put two fingers into her mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

"What the —?" Kate said, then groaned as Nathan came into the tent.

"What now?" he said in a long-suffering tone.

"We need warm water, dry socks, and some hot food," Melanie said.

Nathan crossed his arms across his chest. "And why would I want to do that for you?"

"Because if you wanted us dead, we'd be dead already," Melanie said reasonably. "So I can only assume we're being kept alive for a reason. Well, Kate here isn't going to stay alive much longer if you don't help me out."

Nathan looked at them both for a long moment, then looked disgusted. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, and some sort of heat source," Melanie said. "Either that or some heavy blankets. No, both."

Nathan glared at her, then turned and ducked out of the tent.

Kate looked at Melanie, surprised. "That was impressive."

"Hey, that's what a concierge does," Melanie said. She leaned back, looking at Kate. "How tall are you?"

Kate looked surprised. "A hundred and eighty centimeters," she said.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought," Melanie said, sounding disgusted. "You look about as scary tall as Valerie. That's just messed up. There shouldn't be two of you that tall, let alone tall and gorgeous. I hate to think what it'd be like if you got together with her. You two make me look like a homely hobbit."

Kate laughed, uncertain how to take that.

An hour later, Kate was feeling infinitely better. Amazingly, she'd only had tiny patches of frostbite on her feet, and Melanie was confident she'd heal quickly. The food had been the best part, though. "I never thought e-rations could taste so good," Kate said.

"So, what's the plan?" Melanie said.

Kate sighed. "You're kind of annoying, you know," she said.

"You must like me," Melanie said. "Most people think I'm really annoying." She grinned. "So I have six protein bars I've been saving from my meals. I figure we can carry the blankets and the heater with us—that'll be pretty important if it snows. And maybe when we sneak out we can find some more of those e-rations to take with us."

Kate shook her head. "I tried sneaky once, and that didn't work. This time I think we go for fast. And I don't think either of us has the time to really get healthy enough to go on foot. My bet is they'll be taking us back to the camp soon. I was thinking more about the dunerail."

Melanie blinked. "There's a dunerail?"

"How else did Nathan get here?" Kate said.

Melanie looked embarrassed. "Well, now. This is exactly why I'm the one asking you for a plan."

* * *

It took almost half an hour to get everything set up to Julia and Valerie's satisfaction. They had Yale moved to Dome Two, along with all the medical and technical equipment they both thought they'd need.

"You're sure you'll be okay?" Alonzo said, walking beside Julia towards Dome Two. Helen and Valerie trailed behind them.

"Alonzo, we'll be fine," Julia insisted. "Yale's completely immobilized, even if the sedation and the intocostrin wear off. And I have plenty more of both of those I can use."

"What about your arm?" he persisted.

"My arm is fine," Julia said. "The painblock is working just fine. Besides, I'm not likely to be needing both hands for this. Valerie will be doing all the heavy lifting."

"But—"

"Alonzo, will you please go away?" Julia said, stopping and turning to face him. "I need to be able to concentrate on what we're doing in there, and I can't do that with you fussing over me and worrying over him. We'll make sure he's all right, I promise."

Alonzo tightened his lips, shaking his head at her. "You and I are going to have a serious talk when this is all over," he said.

She smiled tightly at him. "I promise to listen this time," she said.

He reached out and squeezed her shoulder, then turned on his heel and stalked back towards Dome One.

Julia sighed, watching him go, and then turned and headed for Dome Two, trying to ignore the increasing discomfort in her arm. The painblock was working, but the pressure from the swelling was starting to bother her, even with the ice packs.

"Are you sure this is really necessary?" Helen said, following Valerie in.

"Yes," Julia said tersely, coming into the dome. She went straight over to Yale and began running the diaglove over him. The restraints seemed to be holding, and she didn't want to risk dosing him with the intocostrin again if she could help it. The sedation was still keeping him under. _So far_.

Helen frowned at Julia, and Valerie took her arm and led her to the door. "There are two areas in Yale's body that are shielded against scans," she said softly. "Danziger says…" Valerie trailed off, and Helen's eyes widened.

"You mean he really could blow up? I thought Morgan was just exaggerating!"

"It's one possibility," Valerie said. "Danziger is sure you'll be safe in Dome One. Tell everyone we'll call as soon as it's over. And whatever you do, don't say anything to Alonzo. It was hard enough to get him to stay away without him knowing about that."

"I don't like leaving you two here with him alone," Helen said, looking worriedly at Yale.

"They won't be," Devon said, coming in the door.

Julia turned. "Devon—"

"Don't tell me I can't be here," Devon said. "I have the right—"

"Like I had the right to go after Melanie?" Julia said, looking steadily at Devon.

Devon recoiled, looking like she'd been kicked in the stomach.

"Get out, Devon," Julia said, though she didn't sound angry. "You still have to get Melanie back. Then we'll be even, okay?"

Devon looked like she wanted to protest, but Julia's steady gaze stopped her. After a long moment, Devon sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Please, Julia, promise me…"

"I promise," Julia said, knowing it didn't really matter what she was agreeing to do. Either they'd be able to pull this off, or they wouldn't.

* * *

"You ready to do this?" Kate said.

"I was born ready," Melanie said with bravado. It was an insane and reckless plan, the sort of plan Julia would have come up with. _Which is why I'm going along with it_, Melanie thought. _Somehow she always comes out smelling like a rose. Here's hoping Kate has the same gift._

"Okay, here we go," Kate said, but before she could do anything, there was a thundering sound that Melanie knew all too well.

"Oh, boy," Melanie said, recognizing the sound of Terriers galloping through the camp. "I hope these are the good guys."

"Oh, this is perfect!" Kate murmured. She turned back to the little heater and set off the overload she'd rigged. "Come on!" She grabbed Melanie and they huddled as far from the heater as they could.

The heater whined as the Terriers thundered by, an arrow flying through the side of their tent and thudding into the ground. All at once, the heater blew, sending shards of metal flying, but the pile of blankets they'd set up to the inside of the cage from it contained most of it, as Kate had promised. And there was a good-sized hole in the cage.

"Move!" Kate said, grabbing Melanie's hand and dragging her toward the opening. She scooped up the smoldering blankets as she dove through the hole, Melanie right behind her. They scrambled under the side of the tent, then ran through the camp, dodging through the scattered tents, looking for the dunerail Kate was sure was there.

And then she found it. Kate pulled up short, and Melanie ran into her back.

"Going somewhere?" Nathan said, pointing a mag-pro at them from the driver's seat of the rail.

_I really, really hate this guy_, Kate thought, backing away.

Then a second wave of Terriers came from the same direction, and ran right between Nathan and Kate and Melanie. Kate turned, and shoved Melanie hard away from them. The whine of the mag-pro firing came right after, and then the sound of the dunerail spinning its wheels.

Kate skidded to a stop next to Melanie behind one of the tents, looking back across at where the dunerail had been. She could see it rolling away, followed by a cluster of Terriers.

"That bastard stole my ride," Kate growled.

"You mean we have to walk?" Melanie said plaintively.

A Terrier came around the tent across from them and raised its weapon to point at them. "Shit!" Kate said. She grabbed Melanie and dragged her around the back of the tent. "Go for the river!" she said, pointing.

Melanie took off running and Kate followed, praying that the Terrier wasn't following them. "Go, go, go!" Kate whispered, running behind Melanie towards the same riverbed she'd tried to escape along before. _Maybe with the Terriers fighting among themselves, we might have a chance_, she thought. _Maybe._

* * *

Devon walked into Dome One with Danziger at her heels. She headed for where Hardy was sitting on a bunk, his hands still zip-tied.

He looked up as she approached, and his eyes widened as she pulled out a laser knife.

Devon almost laughed. "Relax, Hardy. If I was going to kill you, I wouldn't do it with a laser knife," she said dryly.

Hardy looked confused. "What's going on? I heard the shouting—"

"Give me your hands," Devon said. He stood up, still looking nervous, and held out his hands, and she used the knife to cut him free. "I owe you an apology," she said as he rubbed his wrists.

"You—what?" he said.

"We know you're not the spy," Danziger said.

"But—" he began, then shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. But…how do you know?"

"It was Yale," Devon said, and Hardy's face went through a series of expressions in about a second before finally settling on anger.

"Hold up, Hardy," Danziger said before he could say anything. "It's not Yale's fault."

"Not his fault?" Hardy said incredulously. "I spent the last week with my hands tied, thinking one of you was going to blow my head off at any minute! We got attacked, and I couldn't do a damned thing about it! Phoebe and Paul are dead!"

Danziger stepped past Devon and grabbed Hardy by his shirt, pulling him up. "Don't you—"

"John, don't," Devon said. "Let him go."

Danziger stared at Hardy for a long moment, still holding him by his shirt, then shook him once and let go.

Hardy straightened his shirt, glaring at Danziger.

Devon looked at Hardy, her expression stony. "You have every right to be angry," she said, "but not with Yale. Yale was only a tool for the Council, and he did everything he could—" She stopped, unable to continue. She took a breath. "I'm sorry for what we did to you," she said, and walked away.

Danziger waited till she'd sat down at a table on the other side of the dome, then stepped close to Hardy, who tensed. "You might want to remember that part of what got you into this mess was you being judgmental about Julia. You were wrong about her. You admitted that," Danziger said, emphasizing his point by poking Hardy in the chest. "Don't make the same mistake with Yale."

"But she just said he's the spy!" Hardy protested.

"Yeah, and he almost shot himself over it. Now he's over in Dome Two with Julia and Valerie trying to fix his programming. And Devon's terrified he's going to die," Danziger said, keeping his voice deadly quiet. "So let me make this clear: you were scared somebody was going to blow your head off before? She," he pointed at Devon, "has been through six kinds of hell the last few days, and the last thing she needs is you hassling her about Yale. So you say another word about it, and I'll pull the trigger myself."

Hardy still looked angry, but there was an undercurrent of fear in his eyes.

Danziger turned and walked away, crossing the dome to where Devon sat disconsolately at one of the tables, her head propped on one hand, tracing a nonexistent pattern on the table with one finger.

"Hey, Adair," Danziger said, coming up to sit next to her. "Anybody ever tell ya you worry too much?"

She glanced up at him without even a hint of a smile.

"Look," he said, "Julia and Valerie both think they can fix this, and they've both pulled off some crazy stuff since we landed. I think the smart money is on them making this work."

"But what if they can't?" Devon said, hating herself for saying it, but she couldn't seem to help herself. "What if it's really a bomb in there? What if we lose all three —?"

"Wow, you really turned into Debbie Downer all of a sudden," Danziger said, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Think about it this way. It doesn't really make all that much sense for anybody to stick a bomb in him, and there are all sorts of reasons not to do it. I really don't think that's anything to worry about."

"But there's still the programming," Devon insisted. "You saw him, John. He was ready to kill himself to keep from doing what the programming was telling him to do. Alonzo's absolutely right: he's not a killer, no matter what Morgan says. He's not. But…what if they can't get rid of the program?"

"This is Valerie we're talking about," he said. "Even if she can't figure out the program, she'll find some way to piss it off enough to shut it down."

Devon actually smiled a little at that, but it didn't last long. "He's family, John," she whispered. "I can't lose him. Not after everything we've been through—O'Neill, Paul, Phoebe." She took a ragged breath. "Not after losing Melanie."

"You won't," Danziger said. "And don't you count out Melanie just yet. That kid's a survivor. Julia and Valerie will fix Yale, and we'll get Melanie back, and years from now, we'll all have a beer on the beach at New Pacifica and laugh about this."

"Beer?" Devon said, trying hard to get out of her funk. "I don't even like beer."

"You haven't had the stuff we're cooking up," Danziger said, grinning. "Though properly speaking, it'd be more accurate to call it vodka. But beer or not, it'll put hair on your chest."

"I don't want hair on my chest," Devon said.

"Good point," Danziger said, leering at her. "We may have to modify the brew some."

Devon rolled her eyes, then sighed. "Thank you, John."

"Any time, Devon. Any time."

* * *

"So how do we do this?" Julia said, looking at Valerie.

Valerie sighed. "I've been trying to figure that out for the last half an hour," she said. "The first thing I need to do is to try to access his programming, just in case they downloaded something into him when he made contact. The problem is, I have no idea what's going to happen when I do that. I need you to monitor his vitals and keep an eye on this." She held up a hand-held scanner. "I have it set to monitor any signals to those two areas we couldn't scan. If anything spikes, you run. Don't stop to tell me—I'll be able to figure it out. We might just have enough time to get out before he blows." Valerie ignored the voice in her head telling her that wasn't even remotely possible.

Julia took a deep breath and nodded.

"If anything happens to his body, it's going to be up to you to try to keep him going long enough for me to fix the problem," Valerie continued. "Remember, if he has a suicide default, it could be some sort of poison."

"I know," Julia said. "I'm ready for just about anything."

Valerie smiled. "I'll bet you are. Okay, here we go." She turned and picked up a tablet and plugged a lead into it, then bent over Yale and plugged the lead into a tiny port on the side of his forehead.

His eyes shot open, and he started to struggle. Julia grabbed for her hypospray as Valerie stepped back. Yale managed to snap one strand of biocord before Julia was able to inject another dose of intocostrin. She followed it with another sedative once he'd subsided.

Valerie let out a gust of air, looking wide-eyed at Julia. "Well, this is going to be loads of fun." She made sure the lead was still in place, and started studying the tablet.

"Work fast," Julia said quietly, her eyes glued to the hand scanner.

Fifteen minutes later, Valerie nodded sharply.

"What?" Julia said.

"Well, the stuff I found before isn't so bad. There's a subroutine in here dealing with gasparanium," Valerie said, glancing up at Julia without raising her head. "If he accessed any files regarding toxicity or health risks associated with it, he was programmed to begin broadcasting regular reports on his activity on normal station channels." She studied the readout further. "And there was an addition to the code, probably from right before we left the stations, for him to broadcast those updates on a specific frequency, in burst mode, fully encrypted. With coordinates."

Julia looked dismayed. "Then it's my fault," she said. "I asked him what he had in his files on gasparanium." She looked thoughtful. "He was kind of odd when I asked, now that I think about it. God, I'm an idiot."

Valerie shook her head. "He wouldn't have been able to broadcast far enough to get to the Council agents, not without the encryption chip so he could use the gear." She groaned. "He must have gotten hold of the one from the agent somehow," she said. "Melanie and I didn't get rid of it soon enough, damn it." She shook herself. "Well, it doesn't matter now."

"So you think you can fix his programming?" Julia said.

Valerie nodded. "Yeah, I think so," she said. "But there's something else. They did download something into him. An override to his weapons-aversion coding, with a command to kill Devon and then anybody else around if he was exposed as the spy."

Julia looked hopeful.

"Yeah," Valerie grinned. "That little showdown we had out there wasn't caused by instability at all. I'm going to have to do some creative coding to cut it out, but I think I can do it. And then he should be fine."

* * *

"Wait," Melanie gasped, staggering along the riverbed behind Kate. "I…can't…"

"You have to," Kate said, breathing just as hard. But she turned and took Melanie's arm, holding her up and forcing her to keep moving.

"Kate, please," Melanie said. "I'm a little too…close to…passing out. Just give…give me a minute."

_You need it as much as she does_, Kate told herself. _You won't do either of you any good if you collapse. _"Okay," she said. "Just a minute." She helped Melanie over to the riverbank and found a relatively dry place to rest. They both nearly fell, but managed to end up sitting with their backs against the bank.

"How…far," Melanie said.

"Probably at least four klicks," Kate said. "But it's not far enough."

"I know," Melanie said. "Look, maybe…maybe you should try to make it—"

"Don't even think about it," Kate said. "Look, I owe Julia Heller more than you know. The least I can do is make sure I bring you back to her."

"What do you mean?" Melanie said. "You said before she saved your life. How?"

"By keeping Riley off balance long enough for us to come up with an escape plan," Kate said. "The only reason he was keeping Councilwoman Heller alive was to use her against her daughter. And as long as he thought Dr. Heller was playing along, he had to stick to that plan. If she had screwed up, or if she'd openly defied him, he would've killed her mother in a heartbeat."

"Okay," Melanie said. "I can see how important that was for Julia's mother, but why for you?"

"Because there was no way I was going to let anybody hurt Miriam Heller without going through me first," Kate said fiercely.

"Why?"

Kate smiled in the dim moonlight. "There are four other ships coming here, Melanie. Each with over four hundred people. Every single person that Dr. Heller had to tell they couldn't come with the Eden Project is on one of those ships. Including my sister Jeannie, her husband, Ian, and her very sick little boy, Sean. Councilwoman Heller made that happen. G-889 is going to be our world, but only if we can stop the Council from screwing it up for all of us."

"Four…" Melanie breathed. "How soon?"

"They left right after your colony ship," Kate said. "So we have just over a year to take down the Council camp and keep them from trying to destroy all of those ships when they come into orbit." Kate stood up. "Come on, we have to keep moving."

Melanie groaned.

"Look, Melanie, I know you're tired. So am I. But this is bigger than you or me. I made a promise to Miriam Heller that I would find her daughter and protect her. I intend to keep that promise, and I am going to make certain I keep you alive in the process."

Melanie sighed. "Okay. But we're in this together, all right? Because I think pretty highly of Julia, too, and I know too well that she needs all the people looking after her she can get."

"It's a d—" Kate stopped as she heard a sound from somewhere back along the river. _No, damn it! Not again!_ She grabbed Melanie and shoved her hard into the hollow, though she knew it wouldn't be enough to hide them.

A Terrier trotted up the river into view, and Kate stood up to face it. "I'm not going back," she said. "Do you understand me? I am not going to let you stop me. So you'd better be ready for a fight!"

* * *

As stressful and chaotic as the last few days had been, the quiet of the camp was even worse. Devon thought she would go crazy with nothing to do but wait.

"How are you doing, Devon?" Alonzo said, coming up next to the Transrover where she was sitting with her back against one wheel.

Devon shrugged. "I've never been particularly good at waiting," she said, hugging her arms against her to stay warm. She'd decided to wait outside to be closer to Dome Two when they finished. And the cold seemed like a tiny bit of penance for what she was putting Julia and Valerie through.

"Me neither," Alonzo said, looking over at Dome Two. "Look, I was just over with the others, and somebody said something about a bomb, but they all clammed up when they saw me."

Devon took a deep breath.

"What is it?" Alonzo said sharply. "There's really a bomb? Where?"

"We don't know for sure," Devon said. "But it's possible."

"Is that why everybody's back in the other dome?" Alonzo said, gesturing wildly. "It's in Biko, isn't it? And you've got everybody as far from Dome Two as they can get because you think he's gonna blow up!"

"Alonzo, please," Devon said, almost in tears again. "Don't—"

Alonzo's face fell. "I'm sorry, Devon. I didn't mean to—but…god, this whole situation is a nightmare! We could lose all of them!"

"They're trying to keep it from happening, Alonzo," Devon said. "They're trying to save him. For me. And for you."

"I can't just stay out here and let them do this alone," Alonzo said.

"Alonzo, you know better than to go in there," Devon said. "You and Julia are only just starting to work things out. You go in there now, and you'll screw that all up."

"But, Devon—!"

"Alonzo, what do you think she'll think if you barge in there? What message are you sending her?"

Alonzo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You know she has confidence issues," Devon said, knowing it was a massive understatement. "You go in there, and you'll be practically shouting at her that you don't trust her."

Alonzo put his hands on his head and paced back and forth in front of her, then finally threw a punch into the side of the Transrover.

"Feel better?" Devon said.

"No," he growled. "And now my hand hurts." He sighed. "What good does it do me to demonstrate I trust her if she gets blown up in the process?"

"Alonzo, they're going to be fine," Devon said insistently. "Julia promised."

Alonzo studied her expression for a moment, then put his hand on her shoulder. "Well, then, it's going to be okay." _Damn it, Julia, you'd better keep that promise_, he added silently.

* * *

Two hours after Valerie started, the tension of watching the scanner had brought Julia to the breaking point. Her painblock had worn off long ago, along with the coldpacks, and her arm was pulsing with pain. It also seemed to be getting worse, but she didn't want to take her eyes off the scanner long enough to grab another painblock or scan herself. _Besides, there's really nothing I can do about it right now_, she thought.

Valerie was tapping wildly at her tablet, and had been almost nonstop the whole time. Yale had woken up again an hour earlier, and had almost managed to get one arm free before Julia was able to subdue him again.

_I hate to think what successive doses of intocostrin are doing to his liver_, she thought. _And I really hope that we all live long enough for long-term liver damage to be something worth worrying about._

"Okay," Valerie said, and Julia jumped, startled. "Sorry," Valerie said, smiling at her. "I think I have a fix. I hope. There's a ton of code in here, and I can't be sure I found everything. We're going to have to be careful with him, even if this does work."

"So what's going to happen?"

"I have no idea," Valerie said. "There's no way to test this code, because I don't know how all of his systems interconnect. I just don't have time to figure all that out. So this is a big risk, for him and for us. Once I set this uploading, I'll keep an eye on the scanner, and you'll need to watch his vitals."

Julia nodded, relieved to finally have something productive to do.

Valerie reached across, grabbed the scanner, and then tapped something on the tablet.

Julia set the diaglove on constant update, and immediately saw a spike in brain activity. "Something's happening," she said. There were strange electrical readings all over Yale's body, and Julia felt a knot of fear in her stomach.

"Yeah, I know," Valerie said, glancing back and forth from the scanner to her tablet. "Almost there. And so far, nothing looks like it's happening with the—"

Yale convulsed violently, snapping several of the biocord strands tying him to the table. One broke so violently the end flew up and struck the side of Valerie's cheek. She jerked back, wincing, and put one hand up, but never took her eyes off the scanner.

Julia watched to make sure Yale wasn't able to free himself, then looked back at the diaglove. The brain activity was similar to that of an epileptic in a tonic-clonic seizure in the clonic phase. His muscles were jerking wildly. Julia reached up and turned Yale's head to the side to prevent him from choking, but she didn't dare risk removing the biocord, even though she knew there was risk of injury from the restraints.

All at once he stopped moving, and the diaglove started the whining alarm for V-fib. Julia set the diaglove to defibrillate. "Clear!" she said.

"Wait!" Valerie said. "You could set off the explosives!"

"If that's even what they are," Julia said. "Besides, even the Council would be smart enough to take into account the possibility of defibrillation."

Valerie looked uncertain.

"Look, just go. There's no sense in us both risking our lives at this point," Julia said, the whine of the diaglove grating at her, demanding that she do something immediately. "Call me when you're a safe distance. Go!"

"No," Valerie said.

"Valerie—"

"I've been through that kind of hell once," she cut in, smiling sadly at Julia. "I am not doing it again."

Julia looked at her for a long moment, then sighed and nodded. She put the diaglove on Yale's chest and set off the charge.

* * *

_A/N: For those of you mad at me for yanking your chain at the beginning of this chapter with the Kate/Mel bait-and-switch, it could be worse. Originally, I intended to kill Melanie. Yeah, stupid, I know. Like she'd let me..._


	13. Chapter 13

Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 13

* * *

_A/N: So here it is, the final chapter of this season. I hope this lives up to your expectations. Thanks again for the long haul. And plz review, otherwise I'll be sitting here hitting refresh for the next fourteen hours for *nothing.*_

* * *

Devon paced back and forth by the Transrover, her hands jammed in her jacket pockets. "God, I hate this," she said.

"Me, too," Alonzo said, still rubbing absently at the hand he'd banged into the Transrover door. He was tempted to check his gear chronometer again, but he knew it had only been a few minutes since he'd last looked. _It feels like longer, though_, he thought.

There was the bang of a metal door opening, and it echoed down the box canyon. Devon looked up alertly, and Valerie came around the curve of the dome. Devon started toward her, and broke into a run when Valerie smiled tiredly.

"He's okay?" Devon said, running up to her and grabbing her by both arms.

"He's still alive, and I got my code uploaded," Valerie said, holding her hands up. "He is not out of the woods yet, Devon. Julia is still has a lot of concerns, and we still don't know whether I caught all the nasty stuff in his code."

Alonzo had already started past them, and Devon followed him, with Valerie coming behind her. They ran into Dome Two, and found Julia scanning Yale. Her face was drawn, and Alonzo looked at her closely, concerned. Her hand in the sling looked frighteningly puffy.

"How is he?" Devon said.

Julia looked up and smiled faintly. "He's better than I expected, actually. He went into convulsions, and then his heart stopped. But I was able to get him back. I just don't know how much damage the implants might have done."

"The implants…?" Devon said.

"There was a failsafe in his programming, like Morgan warned us about, and I couldn't come up with a workaround fast enough, so I went ahead and uploaded my fixes anyway," Valerie said. "When I did, it recognized my code as foreign and triggered a massive electrical surge. That's what sent him into convulsions."

Julia nodded. "Devon, you need to be prepared. It's possible there might be brain damage from this. The cybernetic implants are integrated into the brain extensively, and when the surge happened, it could have done permanent damage."

"When will we know?" Devon said, her heart sinking.

Julia shook her head. "He's been through a lot, Devon. He could be unconscious for days, or wake up in hours. I just don't know enough about the cybernetic systems to be sure."

Devon leaned over Yale, putting her hand to his head. _Please, _she thought fervently,_ you have to come through this. I can't do this without you._

"How's the arm?" Alonzo said to Julia.

Julia shrugged. "Still broken," she said tersely.

Alonzo started to say something, then caught Devon's look and stopped. "So what do we do now?" he said instead.

Julia sighed. "I need to keep an eye on him. There's still a lot of electrical activity going on, and I'm worried he might convulse again."

Valerie nodded. "The code is still compiling, and it could take hours. Do you want me to take over? You could use some rest."

Julia shook her head. "This is complicated," she said. "Even a slight change could cause a lot of problems." She glanced up. "Thanks, though. Did you tell them what else you found?"

Valerie turned to Devon. "We may have a problem—Yale sent out another burst transmission when he realized what we were doing." She held up an encryption chip. "This was in one of those compartments Danziger found on the scan."

Devon went white. "You think they'll come after us again," she said.

Valerie looked uncertain. "It's a possibility," she said. "One we'd better be ready for."

Devon nodded. "You'll keep me informed?" she said to Julia, who nodded without looking away from her scan.

Devon sighed, and turned and started for the door, and as she did, Valerie touched Alonzo's arm. "Don't worry," she said under her breath. "I'll make sure Julia takes care of the arm."

* * *

Kate tensed, ready to launch herself at the Terrier, but for some reason she hesitated. And the Terrier didn't fire. "Melanie," she said under her breath. "Run."

"No," Melanie said.

The Terrier stared at Kate, then glanced over her shoulder at Melanie.

"Damn it, Melanie, run!" Kate growled.

"Even if I could, Kate, I wouldn't," Melanie said tiredly.

Then something amazing happened. The Terrier very slowly lowered its weapon, held its hands out with the palms up and the claw tucked in.

"Ohhhh," Melanie breathed behind Kate. "Finally, something went right!"

Kate frowned. "What's going on?"

"These are the good guys," Melanie said, struggling to her feet and coming up next to Kate. She held her hands out, mirroring the Terrier gesture. "Relax, Kate. It's okay."

"There are good guys?" Kate said, hesitating, but Melanie stepped in front of her, smiling warmly at the Terrier.

"Is that you, Jupiter?" she said, wondering if this could possibly be Alonzo's friend.

The Terrier tilted its antennae-horns forward, then reached into its pack and brought out the little case Julia had given the Terriers all those weeks ago.

"Oh, am I glad to see you!" she said fervently, taking it from him. "Listen, if you can help us get home, I'll make sure we fill this again, and then some."

The Terrier gestured to the north with one hand.

"Yes," Melanie said, nodding. "We need to go north."

But the Terrier gestured north again, this time with both hands, and there was no mistaking the urgency in the gesture.

Melanie sighed. "I guess we have to get going," she said.

The Terrier's antennae-horns perked up, and it half-turned back to the south, looking alertly back down the river. Then it turned and grabbed Melanie. She yelped, and Kate tensed to attack, but the Terrier nearly threw Melanie onto its back before she had a chance to do anything. Melanie grabbed wildly at its neck to keep from toppling off the other side, then steadied herself, straddling its back.

Kate reared back as the Terrier reached for her, but it was faster, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on its back behind Melanie. It was wearing a pack across its shoulders, behind where the forelegs were, but there was nothing on its back, and it was broad enough across the back to make it precarious to keep her balance.

The Terrier turned to look at them, remarkably flexible, reached back to steady them, then turned and started galloping up the stream. Kate wobbled, then grabbed onto Melanie with both hands to hold herself in place.

"Well," Melanie said, holding tightly to the Terrier's neck with both hands, careful to avoid its mouth, "this is way better than running." The fur on its neck was remarkably soft, and the warmth of its body felt wonderful, in spite of the biting cold of the wind on her face.

_Yeah, definitely better than running_, Kate thought worriedly, holding onto Melanie awkwardly. _But what is __it__ running from? And how fast can it run carrying both of us?_

* * *

When Devon told Danziger about the possibility of another attack, he had sprung into action. All the work Rick and the others had put into the defenses had been impressive, but Danziger took it to a new level with Todd's surprising help. He added some interesting touches, like digging an extended trench along the line of the river to slow down an assault. With the drilling equipment from the Transrover, it went faster than Devon had thought possible.

The general anxiety from the possibility of another attack by the Terriers or the Council had them all on edge. Everyone seemed to be jumping at the slightest sound, and Devon was a little worried about the people carrying weapons.

She and Danziger decided that they also needed to have advance warning of an attack, so they decided to post sentries about a kilometer past the river, one a few kilometers south, the other to the north, to keep an eye out for either the Terriers or the Council or both. Alonzo volunteered immediately, and Devon knew it was mainly to keep himself from hovering over Julia. _He's learning_, she thought.

"I'll go with him," Rick said, coming up behind them.

"No way," Devon said. "You're still on the mend."

"So are you," Rick said. "But that doesn't seem to be slowing you down any. Don't worry. We'll be sitting around doing nothing for a long time. It'll be a lot less work than hanging around here with you."

Devon frowned, worried.

"Please, Devon," Rick said. "I couldn't help Melanie. Let me do this."

Devon finally nodded. "But be careful, both of you. We've been through enough already."

Alonzo smiled. "Exactly," he said. "Our luck has to change sometime. I think this is it."

* * *

Julia watched over Yale and Rob in the Dome Two. She'd had them move Rob in, since he'd improved enough for it to be safer to move him than it was to move Yale. There'd been little change in Yale's readings, which meant she still didn't feel safe taking her eyes off the scan.

Not even to protest when people kept coming in and out of the dome. The cold wasn't so bad—it was actually a little stuffy inside the dome—but Bill had set up the pelt of the bigfoot just outside, so it could continue doing whatever it was supposed to be doing in the tanning process. So every time someone came in, she caught a whiff of the musky smell that still lingered in the fur and had a horrible flashback to those moments when she was trapped beneath it. _I think I'll suggest they give the coat to Devon_, she thought.

Two hours later, Yale still hadn't shown any sign that he would wake up, which worried Julia, despite her reassurances to Devon. Between the multiple doses of sedative and intocostrin, the massive seizure, and the amount of time he'd been in V-fib, his body had been through a lot. The longer he stayed unconscious, the more concerned she was about the possibility of brain damage.

But even more worrisome was how he would be if he woke up. They still had him tied down tightly, and Julia was prepared to sedate him again, but she really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Hey, Julia," Rob said quietly. "What's with Yale?"

Julia turned, surprised to see him awake. He'd slept through nearly everything in the past four days, only waking up a couple of times, and then only briefly. "It's a long story," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"How do I look?" he said weakly, smiling faintly. "Still nothing from Melanie?"

Julia shook her head, staring intently at Yale's scan, trying to use that to keep her worry at bay.

"Don't worry," Rob said. "Knowing her, she'll show up any minute with a crazy story about alien abduction. And I guarantee, there'll be something about being probed." He grinned, then blinked tiredly.

Julia laughed a little at that. "Thanks, Rob."

"No problem," he said, then frowned. "What happened to your arm?" he added, but he was already fading.

"Don't worry about it," Julia said, patting his hand. "Just rest. You'll hear all about it when you wake up again."

"Hey," Valerie said coming in, bringing another dose of bigfoot smell with her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Julia said quietly, trying not to disturb Rob. "Rob was awake for a little bit. But Yale's still unresponsive."

"That's not what I meant," Valerie said. "You still haven't done much about your arm."

Julia shrugged. "There's not much to do. The boneheal should take care of it soon."

Valerie looked skeptical. "There is one thing to do." She brandished a hypospray. "There's no reason for you to sit around in here without painblock."

Julia smiled. "All right," she said. The arm had been hurting badly, and she knew Valerie was right. _Pain can impede healing_, she reminded herself. _And so can lack of sleep._

"And you should get some sleep," Valerie said, seeming to read her mind as she injected the painblock. "Show me how, and I'll keep an eye on Yale and Rob for now."

Julia studied the scan again for a moment, and was pleased to see the electrical activity had subsided slightly. "Okay," she said finally. She showed Valerie what to do, then dragged a cot over and lay down on it. "Wake me if anything changes," she said.

Valerie nodded, and Julia settled in, letting her eyes close as they'd wanted to for the last two hours. But before she fell asleep, she sent out a silent call. _Hurry up, Melanie_, she thought, putting as much urgency into the thought as she could, hoping one of their Terrier friends might be able to relay it the way they had relayed her feelings to Alonzo. _If Rob's right, and you are on your way back, please hurry. We need you. I need you._

* * *

"Dang, this guy's in a hurry," Melanie said after they'd been running at what seemed to be a breakneck pace for several hours. "I wonder how long he can keep this up?"

_I hope long enough to stay ahead of whatever he's running from_, Kate thought. "He seems pretty strong," she said out loud. "And you're not exactly a heavy load."

"Ha, very ha," Melanie said. "I'm less worried about our weight than I am about what he's running from."

_Never underestimate people_, Kate reminded herself. _Lesson number one in CSF training._ _They're always smarter than you think._

"How far do you think we are from Eden Advance?" Kate asked, hoping to distract Melanie from that line of thought.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Melanie said. "It could be ten minutes or ten days. I was out cold when they took me to wherever that camp was."

"What happened?"

Melanie shrugged. "The Terriers attacked our winter camp. They hit one of our people with an arrow, then pulled back. I was working on her when they hit us again, and one of them broke into the med tent." She went silent for a while. "My…friend, Rob, tried to stop it. I don't know what happened to him."

The Terrier carrying them turned and looked back at her, then reached around with one of its hands and touched her head gently, the claw carefully held away.

"Thanks," Melanie said, giving it a watery smile. "See, good guys. I told you."

"Wait," Kate said. "You were treating the injury? Where was Dr. Heller?"

"We had people out hunting because our food stores were pretty low. One of them got hurt, and Julia went out to help. And a good thing, too. I hate to—" Melanie stopped cold. "You don't think they were after Julia, do you?"

Kate smiled inwardly. _You __are__ a sharp one, Melanie Wilson. Even with a head injury._ "It's possible."

"I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner! Oh, she's probably going crazy with guilt," Melanie moaned. "Just when she was starting to get over the whole lying to us thing, and now this! I swear to God, if I can figure out how to destroy the Council with radio waves, they are dead, dead, dead!"

"Not if I take them out first," Kate said. "Don't worry—one way or another, the Council is done. They just don't know it yet."

Just then, the Terrier slowed to a trot, and then to a walk. It came to a stop as they approached a small river, and Melanie noticed its antennae-horns were tipping forward violently.

"What's going on?" Kate said.

"I don't know," Melanie said, sounding worried. "I knew I should have given myself methohex."

"So that really is how it works?" Kate said. "It allows communication with the Terriers?"

"Oh, yeah," Melanie said. "Just ask Julia—she's the one—"

Melanie stopped as a rumbling sound became audible, and grew in intensity fast.

"Oh, wonderful," Kate said as an enormous number of Terriers came into view at the top of a hill on the other side of the river. "Here we go again."

* * *

"Anything from Alonzo and Rick?" Devon said, coming out to the far end of the right flank of the camp where Danziger was standing watch.

"Nothing yet," he said. "Maybe they've decided to leave us alone."

"Maybe," Devon said uneasily. "How about Artie?"

Danziger shook his head. "Nothing but Morgan complaining about the cold."

Devon chuckled. "What a shock."

"Hey, thanks for sending Artie out there," Danziger said. "Best thing for him right now."

Devon nodded sadly. "Well, let's—"

"Danziger!" Alonzo's voice came over the gear. "We've got company!"

"Well, crap," Danziger muttered. "How close and how many?"

"Too close and too many," Alonzo said.

"I can't tell how many there are," Rick said. "At least a couple dozen, probably more. And get this—there's a Council rail in with 'em. They're maybe a couple klicks away from us now, which puts them about three from you. And they're moving fast.."

"And you're sure they're not our friends?" Devon said.

"I'm getting nothing from most of them but a few of them are just giving me lots of mad," Alonzo said. "Even if they weren't hanging with the wrong crowd, I'd say these aren't our furry buddies."

Devon exchanged a look with Danziger. "Well, now we know," Devon said.

"You two get back here pronto," Danziger said, then hit the gear. "Artie, Morgan, get back here."

"They're coming again?" Artie said.

"Yeah," Danziger said grimly. "They're coming."

* * *

"You heard the man," Alonzo said, clambering into the driver's seat of the rail. "I'm not planning a Song of Roland thing here, so let's get moving."

"Song of Roland?" Rick said, jumping in next to him.

"Kinda like King Arthur for the French. Heroic rearguard, ends with everybody dead," Alonzo said, throwing the rail into reverse and peeling out.

"Yeah, let's not do that," Rick said, looking back over his shoulder as they turned north and wincing as the motion pulled at his still-healing side. He could still see the cloud of dust the Terriers were raising billowing up over the hill as they sped down it. "How fast do you think those things can run?"

"Well, unless they're willing to outrun their Council friend, I'm betting we can keep ahead of them in this," Alonzo said, flooring the rail.

They bounced along wildly, and Rick wished he'd insisted he drive. "So we're, what, ten minutes out?" he said, wincing again.

"Less if we're lucky," Alonzo said. "And I plan to be lucky today."

* * *

"Valerie," Devon said over the gear. "I want you to cut Yale free."

"What?" Valerie said. "Devon, I don't know—"

"He's fine, Valerie, I know it," Devon insisted. "And if things go badly, I don't want him defenseless."

"We're in here with him," Julia cut in, though she sounded a little groggy. "I promise, Devon, if it gets to that point, we'll let him loose."

Devon sighed. "Okay," she said. "Listen, Valerie, I want you to have a mag-pro. You set up in the entrance to the dome. If anything gets that far, you're just about our last line of defense for everybody in Dome One."

"Where will you be?" Julia said sharply.

"Keeping you safe, I hope," Devon said.

"With what?" Valerie said incredulously. "Harsh language?"

"I have a gun," Devon said with dignity.

"You do realize that for a gun to be effective, you may actually have to pull the trigger, right?" Valerie said. "While pointing at something trying to kill you?"

"Not another word, Valerie," Devon said. "I know how to use it. And I will not lose another person, not if I can do anything to stop it."

Valerie glanced over at Julia, who shrugged. "Sorry, Devon," Valerie said. "I was just kidding."

"I'm not," Devon said.

"Just be careful, okay?" Julia said.

"I will," Devon said, biting back the sarcastic reply she wanted to make. She was just grateful that Julia was concerned about her. She checked her handgun for the sixth time, making sure the safety was on, tucked it into her waistband, and walked up to the boulder where Danziger was coordinating their defenses.

"Okay, each team will have one mag-pro and one handgun. Helen, I want you and Bill on the far end of the right side. Hardy and I will take the left end. Make sure your field of fire doesn't go farther to the left than the front of this boulder. If anybody gets past that point, let the next teams take them." Danziger said. Helen nodded, and she and Bill trotted off across the clearing.

Danziger turned to Artie. "How's the knee?" he asked.

"I can manage," he said, even though he was still limping heavily.

Danziger looked as skeptical as Devon felt, but he nodded. "Okay. I want you and Sergei just inside of Helen and Bill, maybe five meters. Nick, you and Andy are about the same on this side, inside of me and Hardy. Both of you scope out your field of fire. I don't want any friendly fire casualties, okay? That leaves Valerie in Dome Two with the last mag-pro, and I want Tosh and Todd with handguns in Dome One. If we have to, we fall back to Dome Two and make our stand there to keep them from getting to Dome One."

Danziger turned back to look at the river and then noticed Devon was there. "I want you back with Valerie with the other handgun," he said.

She shook her head. "Hardy, that'll be your job," she said. Hardy looked nervously over at Danziger.

"Devon—" Danziger began.

"Hardy, just head back there, okay?" Devon said, counting on his over-developed sense of self-preservation to keep him from forcing her hand.

He hesitated, glancing uneasily at Danziger, then nodded. "I won't let anything past me," he said, and turned and trotted off towards the Transrover.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Danziger said. "I want you back with the rest of them. We've got this."

"I'm not going anywhere," Devon said.

"You can't do anything up here except provide another target," Danziger said gruffly.

Devon pulled the handgun out of her waistband and cocked it.

Danziger raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?" he said.

"Think of it this way," Devon said. "Do you really want me to be the last line of defense for Tru?"

He didn't look convinced. "What if I still say no?"

"I'll go hang out with Helen and send Bill over to back you up. I actually pay their salaries directly," Devon said.

Danziger sighed. "You're really trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"Come on, John," Devon said grimly. "I have a reputation as a badass to finally live up to."

* * *

"Valerie?" Yale said.

Julia jolted awake. She swung her legs off the cot and stood, wincing at the sharp pain in her arm.

"What is going on?" Yale continued. "Where is Devon?"

"It's okay, Yale," Valerie said, surreptitiously pulling the handgun from her waistband as she handed Julia the diaglove.

"What did I do?" Yale said, and he looked so frightened, Julia had to resist the urge to pat him on the arm. "I don't remember—"

"You didn't do anything," Julia said reassuringly. "Your programming was making you send reports to the Council, but we figured out how to override it."

"Reports?" Yale said, and looked even more frightened. "Then…that's how they found us. And what happened to Phoebe and Paul…" He trailed off, blinking back tears. "What have I done?"

"Yale, it isn't your fault," Valerie said emphatically. "It's the Council that made you do it, and it's the Council that got the Terriers to attack us. Not you. And you don't need to worry about what happened with the gun, either."

Yale's eyes went wide. "I used a gun?"

"No one was hurt, Yale," Julia said insistently. "And there was a specific command overriding your weapons aversion."

"What if I try something else?" Yale said. "That's why you have me bound, isn't it?"

"Yes," Valerie said, "but only till I can confirm I caught everything. Yale, I'm not worried. You were able to keep from shooting Devon in spite of a command that overrode all other programming. If you can do that, you can handle anything."

"It's just a precaution," Julia added. "We'll be able to let you go soon, I—"

"NO!" Yale shouted, then tried to regain control. "No, Julia, you must not! It is not safe! I could not live with myself if someone else were harmed because of me. Please!"

Julia gave in to her impulse and put her hand on his shoulder, but it only seemed to add to his agitation, so she took it away. "Okay, Yale, we won't, not until we're absolutely certain. Just try to relax. You've been through a lot the last twenty-four hours, and I want to be sure your body doesn't have any further stresses."

"There is no way to be certain," Yale insisted.

"Yes, there is," Valerie said, and she waved her tablet at him. "I've downloaded all of your coding here. I'm pretty confident the patch I put in is going to override anything bad you might do. But give me enough time, and I'll be able to make sure there aren't any nasty surprises hidden in the code." She grinned. "Trust me, Yale, I know what I'm doing."

Yale took a deep breath, then nodded. He glanced back up at Julia. "Has there been any further news of Melanie?"

Julia shook her head reluctantly. "But she'll find her way back," she said, as much for herself as for Yale. "And Alonzo says Jupiter is out looking for her."

Yale looked pained. "Please forgive me, Julia. I never meant for any of this to happen. If I could take it back—"

Julia smiled at him. "Don't forget who you're talking to, Yale. I understand exactly how you feel. And we'll get past this." _One way or another_, she added silently.

* * *

Alonzo slowed the rail as they crested a hill, bouncing along the steep incline. The hill formed a backwards J, with the long end arcing back towards the mountains with a series of jagged rocks jutting out from the top of it like a backbone.

Alonzo pulled the rail in just on the other side of the hill in the curve of the J, a few hundred meters away from the small river that also followed the line of the J. The camp was about a half a kilometer farther to the north, just on the other side of the river. Thick forest covered the outside curve of the J from the foothills almost out to where they were.

"What are you thinking?" Rick said.

"I'm thinking if we take a few shots at the Terriers from here, we might make them think twice about just barreling on through," Alonzo said. "And we might be able to pick off a few. Once they start to get close, we'll bug out. It might just make them mad enough they won't stop to think through their options."

Rick looked around them. They'd be well-hidden if they stayed close to the rocks, and there was a nice, gentle slope behind, so they'd be able to make good time. _Even crossing the river twice shouldn't be too dangerous_, he thought, looking at the low bank just down the hill from them. "Good idea," he said. "Hey, Danziger!" he called, tapping his gear. "Alonzo and I are going to take a few shots at them from up here. Can you see us?" He waved.

"Yeah," Danziger said after a moment, though he sounded annoyed. "If you think you can make it back here safe, I'm okay with that. But don't take any chances."

"You got it, boss," Rick said.

"Don't call me that," Danziger said acidly. "I'm just a peon around here."

Alonzo had set up a position overlooking the slope they'd just come up. He glanced at Rick. "Why don't you stay in the rail?" he said. "That'll make for a quicker getaway when the time comes."

"I'm fine, Alonzo. I'll get back in once they get closer," Rick said, pulling out the monoculars and climbing out of the rail to join Alonzo. "I don't want them splitting up and cutting us off."

He could just see the Terriers crossing the crest of another hill they'd come over about five minutes earlier. "There they are," he said to Alonzo. "Remember, the effective range on the mag-pro is about twelve hundred meters, but I'd probably let them get closer than that. I think they're gonna be tough to take down. I'd say aim for one of them in the middle of the pack, so if you overshoot or undershoot you'll still hit something."

"Got it," Alonzo said, looking through the sight on the mag-pro. The range finder showed them about 2000 meters away. He pushed aside the twinge of guilt he felt at targeting a Terrier. _These guys killed Paul and Phoebe_, he told himself. _They deserve whatever they get._

Rick kept his eyes on the Terriers, his heart rate increasing the closer they got. "How are things back there, Danziger?" he said.

"We're ready," Danziger said. "We'll be able to see you coming, so just come on in. When you get here, cross the river as close to the north end as possible. That's where we left a way across the trench Todd had us dig. Pull on through and head back to Dome Two."

"Roger that," Rick said. "We're looking at another—" He cut off abruptly as a frighteningly familiar musky scent set off every warning bell in his head. "Oh, crap," he breathed, looking around wildly.

"What the hell?" Alonzo said.

"Bigfoot," Rick whispered. "Be quiet!" He caught sight of it right then, just below them in the trees. But as he saw it, the wind shifted, and the bigfoot looked up, nosing the air, and then looked right at him. "Shit!" He grabbed Alonzo's shoulder and yanked him hard back toward the rail. "Run!"

He sprinted for the rail, hoping the creature was far enough back for them to make it. Alonzo was right behind him, so he launched himself across the driver's seat and landed in a heap in the passenger seat, his injured side spiking pain. He heard the bigfoot roar as Alonzo floored the rail, and the bigfoot landed sprawling on the spot they'd just been.

"Drive!" he shouted at Alonzo.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Alonzo shouted back, forcing himself to keep his eyes on where they were going. The rail bounced wildly, and the speedometer crept towards thirty. "How fast can that thing run?"

"I think we're gonna find out!" Rick said, grabbing the mag-pro from where Alonzo had thrown it in the back seat of the rail. He looked back, and the bigfoot was galloping after them. He breathed a sigh of relief when it actually seemed to be losing ground. "We're good," he said. "Keep it going like this, and we'll lose it."

"Wait a minute," Alonzo said, and the rail started to slow.

"What the hell!? Alonzo, floor it!" Rick said, his voice rising.

"Is it still chasing us?"

"YES!" Rick shouted as it started to gain on them.

Alonzo sped up slightly. "Is it keeping up?"

"Yes! What are you doing?" Rick yelped.

Alonzo tapped his gear. "Danziger!" he said.

"You guys okay?" Danziger said. "Holy—is that a bigfoot?"

"Yeah," Alonzo said. "I have an idea. Listen, you let me know when you see the Terriers come over that hill, okay?"

"Are you crazy?" Danziger said after a beat. "Are you seriously going to try to bring that thing down on them?"

"Why not?" Alonzo said. "I figure this planet owes us one. I'm gonna loop around here in a few minutes and bring it back. I'll try to time it for when they hit the river, okay?"

"You are certifiable," Danziger said. "But if this insane plan works…" He trailed off. "Oh, hell, I'll think of something."

* * *

"Yale, how do you feel?" Julia asked Yale. "Any muscle pain? Bruising?"

"It is nothing," Yale said, though clearly he was uncomfortable.

Julia sighed, and turned to grab a pain reliever, but as she did, her bandaged arm brushed against one of the boxes of supplies, and she let out a yelp at the stabbing pain.

"You okay?" Valerie said, glancing over at her. "Do you need another dose of the painblock?"

_It's too soon_, Julia thought, frowning. _It shouldn't hurt like this already._ She ran the diaglove over her arm and swallowed hard as she read the results.

"What?" Valerie said. "What's wrong?"

"Valerie," Hardy called from the door, "here!" He tossed a handgun to her. "You don't let anything through, got it? We're the last line of defense for the kids and everybody else. I'll be up on top of the dome. C'mere and I'll show you the setup."

Valerie caught the handgun and nodded. She went to the door.

"Your field of fire runs from that boulder," Hardy said, pointing to the left side of the clearing, "to that tree." He pointed to the right side. "Don't go beyond those—we'll have people along the sides there. And Alonzo and Rick will be coming in on the left side, so don't go shooting them."

"Yeah, okay," Valerie said, and Hardy ran to take up his position atop the dome. Valerie turned back to Julia, who had taken off her diaglove and was punching commands into it with her good hand. "Talk to me Julia."

"I shouldn't have used the painblock," she muttered, sliding her arm out of the sling. She hissed in pain. "So stupid! It hid the symptoms. And I should have scanned it! I know better—"

"Julia, use your outside voice," Valerie said, glancing back out to see what was going on. She still couldn't see any Terriers, but she knew the way their luck ran, there was no way they'd hold off till after she could deal with Julia's crisis.

"Compartment syndrome," Julia said, glancing up at her. She was breathing hard, and her face was pale.

"Which is?"

"It sometimes happens with crushing injuries. The swelling of the tissue combined with hemorrhaging within the fascia can cause interruption of blood flow to the—"

"Outside voice in English, Julia," Valerie said. "Bottom line."

"I could lose the arm," Julia said.

"Lose the arm?" Valerie said incredulously. She looked at the arm and wished she hadn't. It was so swollen the skin looked almost shiny, and her hand was a disturbing grayish purple. "What do we do?"

"Okay, I…I'm going to need help with this," Julia said, and it was obvious that the painblock wasn't blocking much anymore. "I don't…think I can do this on myself."

"Do what?" Valerie said.

"Fasciotomy," Julia said faintly.

"What the hell is that?" Valerie said.

"Need to cut into my forearm, open the fascia to relieve the pressure."

"Cut into—?" Valerie said, blanching. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Valerie, we need to move fast," Julia said.

"Here they come!" Danziger yelled. "Everybody, heads up! Make your shots count!"

"Crap!" Valerie said, looking out the door. She raised the handgun as the Terriers galloped towards them, and the first few crossed the river and started trying to cross Todd's trench. One of them got enough of a running start to leap clear across it, though it was taken down almost immediately. But others began to follow. "It's going to have to wait, Julia."

"It can't!" Julia said, gritting her teeth.

* * *

"They're gonna be okay," Uly said to Toshiko as she piled another crate onto the barricade they were building just outside the entrance to Dome One. He was clearly trying to put on a brave front, and failing.

"Of course they are," Tru said gruffly. "You've seen my dad shoot, and Helen's up there, too. They'll take out half of the Terriers between 'em, no problem."

Bess smiled reassuringly. "She's right, Uly," she said, and then looked over Uly's shoulder to make eye contact with Morgan as well. He rolled his eyes, but had the good sense not to contradict her. "Remember, our people have a lot of experience with mag-pros, but the Terriers don't. We have an advantage there."

"And the defender always has an advantage," Toshiko said, her voice shaking slightly. "Any attacker going against an entrenched position is likely to take a lot of casualties."

Morgan looked over at her, incredulous. "Since when did you become a military expert?"

"Since I told her," Todd said pointedly, smiling at Toshiko.

"She's right," Bess said quickly. "There's really nothing to worry about. This'll all be over before you know it."

"I'm not worried," Uly said, glancing over at Tru, who had gotten down onto her stomach to look out underneath the Transrover.

"Are there any more handguns?" Tru said.

"No!" Toshiko and Bess said at the same time.

Tru rolled her eyes. "Uly and I both know how to handle them. And I'm a way better shot than Nick, and he's out there with one!"

"Tru, please," Toshiko said. "Your father asked me to make sure you were safe, and I don't want to let him down, okay?"

Tru sighed. "Fine. But next time, I'm going to make sure he lets me use a gun. He owes me."

_I really hope I get to see him have that argument_, Toshiko thought bleakly.

* * *

"Alonzo, they're almost here!" Danziger yelled over the gear. "You'd better not be dead!"

"Not dead," Alonzo said. "We're on our way back around. And it's still with us. I think we might just pull this off!"

_You'd better_, Danziger thought, watching the Terriers galloping towards them on the far side of the river. _There are way too many of them for us to hold off for long._

He glanced over at Devon, and she smiled at him nervously.

"You just point at a Terrier and squeeze the trigger," he said. "Don't jerk it—you'll miss whatever you aim at that way. Remember, just a gentle squeeze." He looked back at the approaching Terriers. "See that little tree there by the river?" he said, pointing.

Devon nodded.

"I want you to aim right there. Chances are there'll be plenty of opportunities to hit something there, and it'll save you trying to aim so much."

"Okay," Devon said. "Thanks."

"Look," he said, "if this gets too hairy, we're gonna pull back to Dome Two, okay? So if I say run, you stay close to the bluff here so Nick and Andy don't hit you, and boogie on back there."

"And you'll be where exactly?" Devon said suspiciously.

"I'll be right behind you, unless you're too slow," he said, grinning sidelong at her, then aiming his mag-pro at the first Terrier crossing the river.

* * *

"You keep an eye on it, Rick," Alonzo said, finishing his long turn. He'd had to be careful making it so the bigfoot didn't cut the corner on him. "Is it still with us?"

"It is," Rick said, watching the thing galloping after them. It roared furiously, and it actually seemed to be speeding up. "How close are we?"

Alonzo could see the Terriers now, crossing over the grasslands in front of the river. "Another half a klick, I think."

Rick glanced forward. "How are you going to play this?"

"I'm gonna bring this thing in on their backsides," Alonzo said. "And then hopefully we can just run right back up that hill again and we can watch this thing have a little Terrier buffet."

* * *

"Yale, I think I need your help," Julia said.

Valerie glanced over at him, then at Julia. "Are you sure?" she said.

"Do we have any other options right now?" Julia said. She looked at Yale. "I'm going to cut you loose, okay? I'll explain what I need you to do."

"Julia—" Yale said, his eyes wide.

"There isn't time to argue!" Julia said, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then dosed herself with the analgesic she'd been preparing for Yale. It barely touched the pain she was feeling, but she didn't dare use a full painblock again.

"Do it, Julia," Valerie said. "They have—" She fired the gun. "—mag-pros, too. They're coming too fast. I have to—" She fired again, and then again, and then yelped and ducked down as a bullet spanged off the side of the door. "You might want to get away from the door!"

Julia wriggled her left arm back into the diaglove, ignoring the chaos exploding outside. "Laser cut," she said, leaned over and cut through the biocord holding Yale down.

He sat up gingerly, rubbing his shoulder and wincing. He looked over at Julia, and she could see the worry in his eyes. "What do I need to do?"

"Okay, here's how this is going to work. Marker," Julia said, and pointed the diaglove middle finger at her injured arm. "You're going to use the laser along this line," she said to Yale, raising her voice to be heard above the gunfire. She held her arm palm up, panting in pain, and traced a line along her forearm, studying the scan as she went, from the thumb side of the arm near the elbow, across the arm to the little finger side, then down the arm to the wrist, leaving a fine black mark along the path.

"Good heavens," Yale breathed.

"I know," Julia ground out. "It'll be pretty awful, but we have to do it. I've set the glove to the correct depth, and it'll indicate green when you're at the right angle. Follow the line, and you'll be fine."

She held out her arm and he helped her remove the diaglove, then put it on his own arm. "I'll try to stay conscious, but I can't guarantee anything. So when you get the incision done, you may need to massage the wound to get the coagulated blood to come out. It'll probably be black and thick. Just keep pushing," she demonstrated with her good hand, "until the blood runs red again. Once it does that, just let it flow."

"Seriously?" Valerie said from the door. "Better you—" She fired. "—than me, Yale. I'd throw up."

"Don't try to close the wound," Julia continued, ignoring her. "The whole point is to keep blood from pooling in the fascia and cutting off circulation to the rest of my arm. I shouldn't lose too much blood, and I can deal with it once it's over. Irrigate it with the disinfectant," she added, holding up a bottle, then setting it down. She picked up a small vial. "Then pour a little terricillin over it. And once it's done, just wrap the arm very loosely with a clean bandage. Understand?"

"Shouldn't you take a painblock?" Yale said.

Julia shook her head. She lay down on her side on the floor and extended her arm in front of her. "Pain is information," she said. "You'll have to be using the diaglove to do the incision, and we don't have another glove in here for me to monitor you, even if I could manage it. Believe me, if you do this right, it'll hurt less than it does right now." She grabbed a towel from the medkit, bunched it up in her good hand and gripped it tightly. "Put your knee on my hand to hold it still."

He hesitated. Valerie fired several times in succession, and she started cursing under her breath.

"Yale, please," Julia said. "It hurts…a lot. I need you to do this."

He nodded, knelt and braced his knee on her hand, then looked steadily at her for a moment. She smiled tightly. "Laser cut," he said breathlessly.

* * *

Danziger was firing rhythmically at the waves of Terriers scrambling across Todd's trench towards them. Devon aimed at the tree he'd pointed out and waited for one of them to come into her sights, but when the first one did, she froze.

_Come on, you have to pull the trigger for it to work, you idiot_, she told herself as the Terrier went down, felled by a shot from the opposite side of their lines. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Relax, Adair," Danziger said, raising his voice to be heard over the hail of gunfire. "Just point and squeeze. You can do it."

_I can do it_, Devon told herself. _I can do it_.

Another Terrier galloped up the line of the river, making for the gap they'd left in the trench. It ran right past her aim, and she cursed. _I can't do it_, she thought. _I'm a liability up here. I never should have sent Hardy back._

"There're too many of them!" Devon heard Nick shout from somewhere behind her.

"Stay cool!" Danziger said. "Just keep shooting, and let the folks behind pick up the ones you miss!"

"I'm missing all of them!" Nick yelped. "They're too fast!"

He was right. They were coming faster than she could have imagined, and there didn't seem to be an end to them. The trench was slowing them down, but not nearly enough. _Uly_, she thought, but she forced herself to look back at the tree. _Suck it up, Adair. You want to keep Uly safe, you have to shoot them. So do it._

She braced herself to pull the trigger, but there was a sudden sound from her left, and she turned to see a Terrier coming around the side of the boulder behind them. It was aiming a mag-pro at Danziger's back.

Devon whirled, aimed and fired all in one motion, and the Terrier's head rocked back violently. It staggered, then fell to its side.

Danziger turned to look at it, then immediately turned back to keep firing. "Told ya you could do it," he said, grinning as he fired. "Nice shootin', Tex."

Devon let out the breath she'd been holding with a whoosh, then turned back to aim at the rest of the horde coming down on them. _Well, at least I'm not going to go down without a fight_, she thought, but even as she looked, the wave of Terriers seemed to falter.

* * *

"WOOOOOOO!" Alonzo yelled, racing the rail towards the last line of Terriers. The Council rail was bringing up the rear, and he aimed their rail straight for it.

"Alonzo!" Rick yelled. "I don't think you want to play chicken with this guy!"

The yellow rail sped towards the white one, and Alonzo could see the wide-eyed look the agent driving it was giving him just as he whipped the wheel to the left to swing the rail barely behind the Council vehicle, then whipped the wheel back to the right to bring it back so the bigfoot wouldn't veer off.

He didn't need to worry. The bigfoot slammed directly into the side of the Council rail. Alonzo whipped the wheel to the left again, narrowly avoiding being struck as the creature and the Council rail went flying, rolling over and over, crushing several Terriers as they rolled.

A group of Terriers turned as Alonzo sped behind them, and Rick fired wildly at them with the mag-pro. Alonzo turned the wheel again and sped towards the rocky hill where all this had begun.

"Jeeeeeeesus," Rick said, looking back over his shoulder. The creature had somehow made it back to its feet and was swiping wildly at several Terriers who had turned to shoot at it. The Terriers that had started to fire at them turned back to face the bigfoot, just in time for one of them to get knocked flying by an enormous paw. It crashed into three of the others, and all four went down hard.

Alonzo was laughing wildly. "Did you see that!?" he yelled jubilantly. "I couldn't have planned it better than that!" He slowed the rail as they started up the hill. "How does it look back—ohhh, hell."

Rick whirled back around to see what had prompted that, and his heart sank as another wave of Terriers crested the hill directly in front of them.

Alonzo slammed on the brakes. "We are so screwed," he breathed. He glanced over at Rick. "Sorry, man."

"ALONZO!"

Alonzo's head whipped back, and his eyes went wide as he realized who had called his name so joyfully.

"I don't believe it!" he said. "It's the goddamned cavalry!"

* * *

Valerie leaned weakly against the door of the dome, looking out at the carnage the bigfoot and their Terrier friends had wrought. The bigfoot was dragging something unrecognizable away from the mangled wreckage of the Council rail. As it limped away, though, she was fairly certain she saw a flash of white uniform in the mess. _Serves them right_, she thought.

She glanced back at Yale. He was brushing Julia's hair away from her face. The surgery had been hell. Julia had cursed creatively under her breath through the whole ordeal, and it had finally occurred to Valerie that she was saying almost exactly what Devon had when she'd been shot on the clifftop all those weeks ago, and it sounded even stranger coming from her than it had coming from Devon.

Once Yale had finished the incision, what had seemed to Valerie like a dangerous amount of black blood had oozed out of Julia's arm, though Julia had insisted that was supposed to happen. Her insistence had lost a little of its impact when she vomited immediately afterwards. Valerie felt queasy again just thinking about it, and carefully looked away from the mess of congealed blood and vomit on the floor of the dome. Julia had finally, thankfully, passed out when Yale irrigated the wound with the disinfectant.

"According to the diaglove, her arm will heal properly," Yale said, catching Valerie's look. "Compartment syndrome is the result of increased pressure within muscle compartments, and the diaglove is now showing that pressure to have been relieved. The fractured ulna is already well on its way to being repaired by the boneheal vaccine. The soft tissue will take longer, but it should heal soon."

"Good," Valerie said, and then looked at him. "Does that mean you're not having any trouble accessing your database?"

Yale looked nervous, but nodded. "All of my systems seem to be working properly, both the biological and the mechanical," he said. "It appears your coding was effective, and my failsafes weren't."

"Hooray for that," Valerie said. She sighed. "Thanks, Yale."

"Under the circumstances," Yale said gravely, "it was the very least I could do." He rested his hand on Julia's head gently.

Valerie smiled wryly. "Alonzo," she said after tapping her gear. "You okay?"

"I am way better than okay!" he said, and she could hear the grin. "I'm fantastic! I'm spectacular! I'm on top of the world!"

"Good," she said, wondering how long that would last once he got back. "Then get back to Dome Two. I need you."

"We're on our way," he said, "with one hell of a surprise for Julia."

"Yeah, well, she has one for you, too," Valerie muttered.

* * *

Alonzo rolled up the riverbank at the head of a delegation of Terriers, smiling broadly. "Look what the bigfoot dragged in!" he shouted.

It took Devon a moment to process what she was seeing. The first person out of the rail after Alonzo came from the back seat, and Devon didn't recognize her. But the second…

"Melanie?" she said in a small voice.

She smiled. "Hi, Devon," she said, and then she was mobbed by everyone at once.

"What'd I tell you?" Danziger said, putting his arm around Devon and squeezing her hard. "Beer is in our future, Dev."

"This is perfect!" Toshiko said, sprinting up from Dome One and flinging her arms around Melanie joyfully. "Do you know what day it is?"

Melanie finally managed to get everyone to back off for a moment, and she looked worried. "Where's Rob?"

"He's fine," Devon said quickly. "He was badly hurt, but Julia says he's going to make a full recovery."

"And Julia?"

"She's a little out of it right now," Valerie said, coming up. "Yale's looking after her."

"Out of it?" Alonzo said, frowning. "What happened?"

Melanie's face had gone white. "But Yale's—"

"The spy," Valerie said, holding up her hand reassuringly. "We know. We had a little adventure with that, but he's back on our side now."

"Who's your friend?" Danziger said, nodding at the tall blonde woman next to her, who was looking a little nervous.

"This is Kate," Melanie said. "But I don't want to tell you the whole story until Julia's here."

"Well, that could take a while," Valerie said, bracing herself for the explosion from both Alonzo and Melanie.

* * *

The first thing Julia was aware of was an almost overwhelming feeling of happiness, washing over her in wave after wave, with every imaginable variation and flavor, and she realized after a moment that she was feeling the emotions of everyone in the camp flowing and amplifying through dozens of Terriers. It was the most wonderful thing she'd ever felt.

Or it was until she heard a startlingly familiar voice, and felt monumental irritation mixed with worry to go along with it. "I swear to god, you get yourself into the most ridiculous situations! I can't leave you alone for ten minutes without you getting attacked by a giant fuzzball, falling off a cliff again, nearly freezing to death, getting your arm squished! It's like you're trying to make me crazy or something!"

"You?" Alonzo said. "What about me?"

Julia opened her eyes to find Melanie hovering over her with the diaglove on her arm, staring at the readout. The skylight of the dome above her was a miraculous wash of orange and pink, with rippling clouds lit by the fading sun. The light gave Melanie a coral halo, and Julia was certain she was dreaming until she looked over and saw Alonzo was next to her, and he looked furious. And then she saw the mess on the floor next to her, and remembered what had happened.

"Melanie?" Julia said faintly, and Melanie looked over at her. "Is this real?"

"It sure looks that way," Melanie said acidly. "I don't think anybody could imagine a wound this horrific that you would deliberately inflict on yourself."

"It is not her fault, Melanie," Yale said, sounding distressed. "Please do not hold my actions against her."

"I know that, Yale," Melanie said, her tone suddenly gentle, "and for what it's worth, it looks like you did a great job. God knows how. That must have been tough to do under the circumstances."

Yale shook his head. "The difficult part was knowing I caused it."

"You're here," Julia said, completely bewildered.

"Yes, Jules, I'm here," Melanie said patiently. "What? You thought I'd leave you here without me to keep you healthy?"

"Yes," Julia whispered, blinking hard at the tears that were threatening to spill out.

"Well, now you know better," Melanie said softly. "Do you think you can get up?"

"I don't know," Julia said uncertainly.

"Well, let's not find out the hard way. Hey, Kate! Get on in here!"

"Kate?" Julia said.

"This is Kate Tennyson," Melanie said as a lanky blonde came through the door of the dome, and Alonzo reluctantly had to leave Julia's side to make room for her among the piles of medical equipment. "She has something to tell you."

"Dr. Heller," Kate said, kneeling next to Melanie and nodding at Julia with a delighted expression on her face. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a great deal about you."

"Whatever Melanie said—" Julia said hesitantly, frowning at the tattered Council uniform Kate wore.

"Actually, Melanie hasn't told me all that much about you," Kate said, smiling wryly. "We haven't had much time to talk. No, I've heard about you from your mother."

"My—" Julia stopped and shook her head. "What?"

"She said to tell you that when you make it to New Pacifica, she'll have habanero sauce and pretzels waiting for you, or the closest thing to that she can manage."

Melanie laughed.

"She's alive…?" Julia breathed.

"Very much so," Kate said. "Because of you."

"Happy birthday, Julia," Melanie said.


End file.
